2015 Fall/Winter Archive
"Monterey Bay," Fall/Winter 2015
This archive preserves previously published materials that document stories, initiatives and community impact over time. Content reflects the context, priorities and perspectives at the time of publication.
Materials in this archive are provided for reference purposes only and may not reflect current programs, policies or organizational updates.
Explore the collection to gain insight into past work, evolving priorities and the broader impact of these efforts over time.
Contents
Advocate for a Fresh Perspective
Like many of us, Justin Frago was horrified to hear about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But his horror also resonated on another level when he learned that the shooter, Adam Lanza, shared Frago’s diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. “I was so mortified. A lot of people know me and that I have a disability. I didn’t want them to think I would do the same thing,” Frago said.
So he posted something to that effect on Facebook. One of his former teachers from The Met Sacramento High School saw the post, and invited Frago to co-write an op-ed piece about living with Asperger’s syndrome that eventually appeared on the Huffington Post.
“Mental health and disabilities are stigmatized and marginalized subjects,” he said. “It’s so important to understand that Autism is a spectrum and everyone is different.”
Advocate and empower
As an advocate for people on the Autism spectrum and people with disabilities, Frago shares his story as a way to better understand himself, educate those who may be unfamiliar with Autism, and empower others who face similar challenges.
For example, he doesn’t like hugging when he first meets someone. He’s sensitive to pressure, so a bear hug can feel suffocating. Some loud noises or angry voices can bother him, making him want to leave those situations. Sometimes humor and sarcasm are difficult for him to discern because he approaches things from a literal standpoint. But he’s learned to communicate how he operates to friends, classmates and instructors, and found that people accept him and appreciate what he has to offer.
He is an advocate for students at CSUMB, where he leads the Student Awareness for Disability Empowerment Club and works as a student access assistant in Student Disability and Accessibility Center (SDAC). He helped launch the first ever affinity graduation celebration for students with disabilities, and is a co-presenter at Student Disability and Accessibility Center (SDAC)’ new student orientation.
“I’m involved on campus. People are able to see that even though I have a disability, I can still perform well and fully participate,” Frago said.
In addition, Frago's broad understanding of, and connections with young adults with disabilities has been recognized in the non-profit community. Frago was recently voted onto the board of directors for the Central Coast Center for Independent Living (CCCIL).
“Throughout my life, people have told me I can’t do this or that because of my disability. But at my high school and at CSUMB, I’ve found people who help me succeed at school. They let you make a mistake, work through it, and move on.”
It's ok to be different
Frago counts Cinematic Arts & Technology professor Karen Davis among his top supporters. For the past year he’s worked as the teaching assistant for her class on rock n’ roll and film – a good fit because Frago considers himself a “hardcore rock n’ roll junkie, as well as a vinyl record collector.”
“Karen helped me understand and recognize that it is OK to be different. She also taught me a lot about social action and social justice,and that you have to stand up for what you believe in,” he said. Manager of Student Disability and Accessibility Center (SDAC) Margaret Keith and SDR adviser Ruthann Daniel-Harteis also taught him to celebrate his differences, and to take up the work necessary to make the changes he wants to see.
Plans for the future
Frago is a first generation college student majoring in Human Communication with a concentration in . He will graduate next spring, after which he plans to earn his special education teaching credential and eventually work in a school in Salinas. He hopes that by drawing on his past experiences, he can help his students recognize their own dreams and potential to succeed.
“I understand where they are coming from, the headaches and frustrations.” he said. “How can I help them learn how they learn? How can I help personalize learning and spark their curiosity? How can I find what they are interested in and passionate about? Similar to how I discovered my passion for the disability issues realm.” These are all questions that he hopes to explore with his future students.
There's No Wrong Number
Accounting major Yolanda Rosebraugh returns to school for a new career
By Liz MacDonald
If Yolanda Rosebraugh’s experience has taught her anything, it’s that there is more than one way to do college. Many students do it right after high school, but that didn’t work so well for her. “I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to. And I was a terrible student,” she said.
So she dropped out of UCSC, and pursued other directions with her life – working as a naturalist at the Monterey County Outdoor School and working in various office jobs. When she and her husband had children, Rosebraugh stayed home with them.
Once the kids got a little older, Rosebraugh returned to school to earn her early childhood education credential at Cabrillo College. After that, she became involved in her children’s schools, first as a preschool teacher, and later by working in the school office.
Over the years, Rosebraugh went on to earn five associate’s degrees at Cabrillo. After the early childhood program, she took coursework in business, accounting, Spanish, and liberal arts/ sociology.
Confidence
It was the accounting class that truly altered Rosebraugh’s course. “My professor told me, ‘You’re good at this. Ever thought about being an accountant?’” Rosebraugh said. “I told him never. It hadn’t even crossed my mind. I didn’t have the confidence to consider myself eligible. “But I kept thinking about it.”
Eventually Rosebraugh realized this was the path she wanted to pursue. She transferred to CSU Monterey Bay as a full-time student to complete her bachelor’s degree and prepare for the CPA exam.
At first she worried about her ability to keep up. But she found her professors encouraging and her classmates receptive. In the evenings, homework time became a family activity. “[My kids] are very encouraging to me.They say I work harder than they thought possible,” she said. Rosebraugh’s daughter, now 19 and attending college, and her son, 16 and completing high school, gained a better idea of what to expect from college, and that it’s never too late to learn.
Outside of class, Rosebraugh is active in the business club and accounting society, and participated in the VITA United Way tax assistance program, volunteering to prepare tax returns for low-income families in the local area. She also hopes to become more involved in the Black Students United club.
“There aren’t many women or people of color in accounting. I’d like to see that change,” she said. “I’m going to be doing a job I like and providing for my family. I hope more students of color and women consider this career.”
Next semester, Rosebraugh looks forward to completing an internship with Ryan & McDonald, an accounting firm based in Salinas.
“I’m glad to be living in a time where I have another chance. To know what I want to study, what career I want, and be able to comeback and do it now. I’m a better student, and I’m ready to do the work.”
Marsha Moroh
Published in the Fall/Winter 2015 CSUMB Magazine, prior to Moroh's retirement.
A CSUMB founder continues her journey
Riding the Monterey Bay Coastal Rec Trail, with the Pacific’s majestic blue expanse at her side, Marsha Moroh is enjoying another commute to her office. The dean of CSUMB’s College of Science bikes often on this path, an eight-mile trek from Monterey to campus that provides stunning coastal views and plenty of time to think and reflect. There’s plenty to remember – Moroh was one of the founding faculty at CSUMB more than 20 years ago. She is retiring this year.
Some paths are more challenging than others. Moroh is a trailblazer. After becoming the first woman ever to earn a Ph.D. in computer science at the Polytechnic Institute of New York, and after serving for 25 years as a professor in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, Moroh and her family came west to help found this California State University campus. Ferry rides past the Statue of Liberty, her daily commute in New York, were replaced by the serenity and rustic military history of the decommissioned Fort Ord. Moroh was thrilled.
“The CUNY system was horribly bureaucratic. I was intrigued by the idea of starting a university from scratch and applying best practices,” she said.
What really pulled her in was the vision of CSUMB – people teaching and learning from one another in mutual respect; a residential family community in a university; the concept of service learning. It seemed almost utopian, according to Moroh.
Then reality hit. The workload was stunning for CSUMB’s 13 founding faculty members during the first year. There were no courses, no labs or equipment, and little infrastructure. Moroh and her colleagues would work all day and at night, and read resumes to hire additional faculty. They reached out to the community on a regular basis to meet people. Yet, the campus ethos was being a creative hub with little restriction. Faculty came up with innovative curriculum. They were audacious and thinking big. “We felt like we were really building something,” Moroh recalls fondly.
Along with assisting in the founding, Moroh was hired at CSUMB to teach computer science. On the first day of class during that first year, there was only one problem – the computers were still in their boxes.Thus Moroh’s first teaching assignment to her computer science students: unpack the computers and set them up.
Experiences like these made a tightly-knit campus community. But things began to change. A major step was the opening of the three-story, 68,000 square-foot Chapman Science Academic Center in fall 2003. The first new building on the CSUMB campus, the center has 13 science labs, five designated for capstone and student-faculty research projects. Until then, the science department utilized a former Fort Ord blood bank for lab space.
Moroh oversaw the design and construction of the Chapman Building but gives the real credit to Science and Environmental Policy Professor Bill Head, who recently retired. “If it wasn’t for Bill, we probably wouldn’t have a science building,” said Moroh. “He developed a strategic plan for the College of Science and wrote grants to fund the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC), one of the best undergraduate research support programs in the country.”
Moroh hired virtually every faculty member at the College of Science. She credits those faculty for its growth and success. “My greatest accomplishment is the faculty that I hired.”
Much of the research equipment at the College of Science, including the boats and diving equipment, were purchased through grants written by the faculty said Moroh. Last year, close to 200 students were paid researchers from faculty grants, doing cutting-edge research, and often publishing their work with faculty. In the CSUMB student population itself, approximately a third of the students are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) majors.
Marsha Moroh (at far left) at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chapman Science Academic Center in 2001.
The success of the CSUMB College of Science is a fitting tribute to Moroh’s outstanding academic career – a career that spans both sides of the country and almost a half-century. For the last 20 years, Moroh has been a visionary, innovator and scholar at CSUMB. The College of Science is strong, and will continue to innovate and expand research opportunities due to her leadership.
What’s next after retirement? Her husband, Ken, is a retired CSUMB computer science faculty member. They plan to travel to Italy together, and she will spend more time with their two grown daughters and Moroh’s mother, who is 96 years old. A skilled pianist, Moroh will have more time to indulge in her passion for music. Gardening is also on the agenda, as is volunteer work, and probably occasional consulting (she has extensive international education experience, in settings as diverse as Dubai and Pakistan).
Whatever path Moroh takes from CSUMB, perhaps you could say it’s going to be smooth, probably with a great view. Maybe you could say the wind will be at her back. Regardless, she’s not leaving CSUMB completely behind. She was a mentor and friend to many in the CSUMB community and always will be.
“I’m certainly going to be a part of CSUMB in some way, contributing where I can. And I’m sure I will take a few OLLI classes and keep learning,” she said. “Life-long learning: that’s what CSUMB is all about.”
Bethany Mayer — A technology leader comes to CSUMB
Be open. Be curious. In the technology industry, it’s a glass maze for women in leadership roles. Learn to navigate it.
Excellent advice from Bethany Mayer (EMBA ‘11) the president and CEO of Ixia, a globally-traded, public company with more than 1,700 employees worldwide. The firm specializes in computer networking and security with clients that include Cisco and Verizon. Total revenue for the company in 2014 was nearly a half-billion dollars.
Mayer, who serves on the CSUMB Business Advisory Council, has been on the forefront of technology her entire career. The Bay Area native got her start at Lockheed Martin working on classified projects developing stealth technology for fighter aircraft. From there, Mayer moved on to Apple in the early ‘90s, serving in operations as the company built its first laptop computer. Several years later, she moved on to Cisco Systems as the Internet rapidly expanded for common use. For the last three decades, Mayer has personally driven the development and marketing of technology that has transformed our lives.
More career highlights followed. She served in lead marketing positions at several firms before ending up as vice president of marketing for the $30 billion server, storage and networking business unit at Hewett Packard. Then came CSUMB.
“I am a life-long learner and really wanted to get my master’s degree. I found that getting an MBA online through a state school with a strong reputation was ideal for my circumstances,” she said. “Professor Marylou Shockley, the College of Business chair, is smart and an out-of-box thinker. I met people from all over in my cohort. It was fun and hard work, with many weekends and nights.”
After graduating from CSUMB, Mayer’s career moved away from marketing and into general management. She served as the senior vice president and general manager of Hewlett-Packard Networking, a $2.5 billion business unit, before her current position as president and CEO of Ixia. She was recently named one of the “2015 Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology” by the National Diversity Council.
It’s been an impressive career. A mother of five, Mayer said her professional experience, while positive, was the exception rather than the norm. “There are not enough women in leadership roles in the tech industry,”she said. “Early in my career, I was the only female in the office that wasn’t an admin. Yet, this generation, my children’s generation, is different. I have faith in millennials. It will change.”
Mayer went from manufacturing, to product development, to marketing and then made the leap into management. Technology evolves rapidly. Perceptions and options should do the same.
“I didn’t say no to non-obvious choices,” Mayer said. “CSUMB was one. It was an excellent experience.”
Game On
Courtside matrimony brings out the best for CSUMB alums
Along with their Cal State Monterey Bay degrees and, of course, their three young children, Lisa and Craig Fortier share one big thing.
Both think they are married to a darned good basketball coach.
Award-winning
Gonzaga basketball fans agree. In her first year as head coach of the Bulldogs’ women’s team, Lisa Fortier earned the Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award. With Craig serving as Lisa’s assistant, Gonzaga compiled a 26-8 record and fought their way to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
“This award is a great acknowledgment of the tremendous success Lisa had this year,” Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth said. “It’s also an acknowledgement made by her peers on a national level. All of us here at GU are so proud of her, her staff and her team.”
The award represented an impressive step on a coaching journey for both Lisa and Craig, who worked their way up through the coaching ranks after earning Human Communication degrees at CSUMB.
A place to play
“I rave about my experience at CSUMB whenever anyone asks me,” said Lisa, who was Lisa Mispley when she starred for the women’s basketball team and was named CSUMB’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2004.
“When I got to CSUMB, I was really just looking for a place to play. The program wasn’t having great success at that point, but it was a tremendous opportunity for me.
“I loved basketball, and I became team captain. I was sort of a liaison between the coach and the players. The coach (Amber Magner) really trusted me as a player, and I appreciated that. I think I learned a lot from her about how to trust your players,” Lisa said.
Lisa said that CSUMB’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion proved invaluable to her as both a recruiter and a coach.
Meanwhile, Craig was a stalwart for the CSUMB’s men’s basketball squad, and was named the team’s most inspirational player before graduating in 2003. They married in 2004.
Huge contributions
While at CSUMB, the pair worked with Bobbie Bonace, CSUMB’s first athletic director who helped develop a coaching minor in what was then known as Human Performance and Wellness.
“I just fell in love with those two kids. They are really treasures,” Bonace said. “Both Craig and Lisa made huge contributions to our basketball program. It wasn’t just their skill level, but also their dedication to the game, their understanding of strategy and how to motivate their teammates.”
“I have always been impressed by the mutual respect they have for one another, both as athletes and coaches.”
The Fortiers with their growing family – two sons, Marcus (2010) and Calvin (2012), and a daughter, Quincy (2014) – ended up in Spokane, Wash., where Lisa was an assistant at Gonzaga and Craig worked down the road in Cheney as an assistant men’s coach at Eastern Washington University. Both earned master’s degrees at Gonzaga.
Head coach
When the Zags’ head women’s coach Kelly Graves moved onto the University of Oregon, the Fortiers dealt with some unsettled times.
“We didn’t really know what we were facing,” Lisa said. One possibility was to join Graves at UO, but “we have two coaches in the family, so we really have to look at everything from that perspective.”
Then, Lisa was offered the Zags’ head coaching position. Which led to another decision, about Craig joining Lisa’s staff.
“There definitely were a lot of moving parts in making that decision. We were just getting to the point at Eastern (Washington) where we were enjoying the benefits of all the hard work we had put in there,” Craig said. “But I knew the (Gonzaga) team really well, and I was supportive of what Lisa was doing there, so I really was interested in being a part of that.”
With Craig coaching the defense, the Zags won their conference championship and, as a No. 11 seed, scored two upsets to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Since most of her players are returning, to be joined by a strong recruiting class, Lisa sees the potential for another successful season ahead.
One thing, for sure, it will be a hectic one.
“Having three little kids is a challenge enough. We are always taking one or the other of them here or there. You just try to take it one day at a time,” Lisa said. “It really helps that Gonzaga is such a family-oriented place. And we love Spokane.”
And Gonzaga fans have come to feel the same way about the Fortiers.
Campus Shields
CSUMB police educate and protect a vibrant academic community
A CSUMB police cruiser drives west on the darkened campus, a spotlight occasionally streaming out from the vehicle’s side and scanning the shrubbery along the road. It drives past the main quad area, where groups of students are milling around, and heads to a parking spot popular with those headed to the beach. It is an unseasonably warm night, perfect for a walk.
Assistance
CSUMB Sergeant David Ham slowly pulls up to a cluster of vehicles near the trailhead to the beach. Officer Heather Murphy (SBS ’15) joins him. Both casually examine the vehicles with flashlights and sure enough, one student has left her wallet, keys and ID in plain sight on the front seat. The road is dark and deserted – a prime opportunity for theft.
“It’s not uncommon” said Ham with a smile. “Students sometimes don’t think about the consequences.” Nodding in agreement, Murphy reads the student’s name off the exposed ID, looks up the student’s phone number and attempts to contact her. In the dark, a group of students walk past as Murphy tries calling. They are coming back from the beach. None is the student the officers are trying to locate. Friendly hellos are exchanged.
This example of assistance – and dozens like it in a typical semester – is an excellent example of what makes the CSUMB University Police Department unique, according to Police Chief Earl Lawson.
“Our officers have the power and authority of state police officers – yet consider themselves mentors, counselors and a resource,” Lawson said.
Extensive operations
The University Police Department (UPD) is a fully equipped police agency, consisting of more than a dozen state police officers, 17 community service/student officers, three parking officers and six staff members. The UPD oversees emergency management and preparation, occupational health and safety, fire contracts and fire service agreements, parking services, and traditional law enforcement and police services.
The department serves an area of just under 10 square miles encompassing the 1,400 acre CSUMB campus. Since CSUMB is a residential school, and many students, faculty and staff live on campus, this area is home to more than 7,500 people when school is in session – nearly twice the population of Carmel.
Chief Lawson directs UPD’s extensive operations and is a well-known figure on the CSUMB campus. For nearly 20 years, he has been a part of the university’s police force, becoming chief in 2010. He frequently attends campus events and is often seen talking to students, staff and faculty.
Many officers live in staff and faculty housing, making the campus a place that is truly called home. Others are alums. “Our officer-alums can especially engage well with our students from the shared experiences,” Lawson said.
Corporal Carolyn Mcintyre (LS, ’12) was serving as an officer with the Monterey Police Department before coming to CSUMB and completing her education. “I was attracted to the supportive environment. The department is very family-oriented and puts their officers first,” she said. Sergeant Stacie Russo (LS, ’04) agrees and enjoys interacting with students, staff, faculty and visitors. Every day is different. “You feel very connected to the campus community,” Russo said.
Building trust
This sense of community at CSUMB is one significant factor that drives Lawson’s philosophy – earn respect, build trust, be a resource, keep the lines of communication open, establish a strong visual presence.
Lawson outlines the strong relationship between University Police and the departments that provide counseling to students. “Students come to this campus from all different backgrounds, socio-economic situations and neighborhoods. Many have a very adversarial relationship with the police back home,” he said.“We strive to change that.”
The first approach
One critical partnership on-campus is with the counseling center. If a student is a non-violent offender, or is having issues with substance abuse causing disciplinary action, the first approach is to help, not prosecute. A “CARE” team, comprised of UPD, staff members from the counseling and health centers, Judicial Affairs, Student Affairs and Residential Life meets weekly to evaluate students with difficulties or in a crisis on a case-by-case basis. Intervention on this level goes hand-in-hand with UPD’s core emphasis on safety. It prevents bad choices by students that result in harm to themselves or their classmates.
Safety is top priority on all levels of operation. Lawson points out the window from his office. “Look at the trees and vegetation. See how they’re trimmed from the ground up? It eliminates hiding places and discourages criminal behavior,” he said. “As a community member, you have a clear line of sight. Safety is a priority in every aspect of the university, it’s even a consideration as to how we landscape.”
That’s just the beginning. UPD is home to a full-time Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC), which coordinates evacuation and response plans in such incidents as an earthquake or fire. The REOC is managed through a direct partnership with the cities of Seaside and Marina and also serves those communities in event of a disaster.
Otter alert
Another tool is the aptly named “Otter Alert System,” providing UPD the ability to send text notifications and web notifications campus-wide instantly from almost any location. More than 14,000 cell-phone users are subscribed. If the CSUMB website goes down, a “mirror-server” – often located hundreds of miles away at another CSU campus – will take over.
For other worse-case scenarios, UPD is a member of the Monterey Peninsula Special Response Unit, SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Team. Lawson was the team founder and commander before taking the job as chief in 2010. This relationship allows UPD to quickly mobilize officers from surrounding agencies during a crisis response.
Student safety is the first priority."— Chief Lawson
“We have robust resources due to inter-agency relationships, allowing us to train together and resource-share,” Lawson said. “We take this very seriously. Student safety is the first priority. It’s our neighborhood. It’s our community. It’s not just a place where we work.”
Sergeant Ham and Officer Murphy agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. After alerting the student to her exposed ID, the night’s patrol continued. Tickets were written. Doors were knocked on. Music was turned down. And people went home safely.
Ham reflects while driving away from the beach trail in the warm night. Ham is a former Army Ranger, stationed at Fort Ord before starting an extensive career in law enforcement. He came back seven years ago. “The students are what keep you coming back, building those relationships, and seeing them mature and grow. It’s a great feeling.”
CSUMB in an Instant
Students use Instagram to share their experiences
By Jeffrey Lewis ’13
University students everywhere are increasingly turning to social media to memorialize their college experience, flooding digital communities like Instagram with pictures of pep rallies and co-curricular excursions. CSUMB students are no different. Whether it’s a Monterey Bay sunset or great campus architecture, our students help craft a beautiful visual narrative of life at Cal State Monterey Bay.
Collected here is merely a small sample of the photographs students have shared on Instagram, using the hashtag “#CSUMB.”
The Memory Doesn’t Remain
CSUMB Professor Researches Downfalls of Eyewitness Accounts
Seeing is believing. Or is it?
Jill Yamashita, associate professor of psychology at Cal State Monterey Bay, will tell you that sometimes what we see – and, more important, how we remember what we see – can lead us astray.
“Memory is not like a recorder. It doesn’t record things exactly as they happened,” Yamashita said. “Memory is very personal. Whatever you are interested in, whatever you think is important, that is what you tend to remember. What is interesting to another person, then is what they are going to remember.
“That is why you can have 10 people view the same exact event and have completely different eyewitness accounts of the event.”
Small details
Juries love eyewitness testimony, but Yamashita said that jurors should view that testimony with far more skepticism. In fact, she said, some studies have shown that up to 80 percent of eyewitnesses actually have picked the wrong face.
“The brain loves shortcuts. The brain loves to fill in details, it does it all the time. When we don’t know all the information, our memory will fill in the blanks with what it thinks is appropriate information. And sometimes it is wrong,” Yamashita said.
She said that each time you recollect a certain memory, it is likely to be slightly different from the last. Some small details may have changed; you may have incorporated bits of information from other people or sources.
In normal conversation, that is not a problem. But when police are trying to get to the bottom of a criminal case, it makes their job more difficult.
“It is frustrating, I am sure, for the police, because they are getting all these different stories about the same event,” she said.
Yamashita became interested in this field when she was in graduate school at the University of Nevada - Reno. First she worked in a lab studying facial perception; then she worked in a lab studying false memories. She saw how she could combine the two interests in looking at eyewitness testimony.
She teaches courses in psychological statistics and human memory at CSUMB.
Weapon focus
Several factors can add to the unreliability of a witness to a criminal event, according to Yamashita.
Studies have shown that memories are the most accurate when people are engaged and interested in an event, but not when they are over-emotional.
Adding to the problem is the issue of weapon focus.
“If you have all your attention on a gun or a knife, you are not going to remember what a perpetrator’s height or build is, sometimes you won’t even remember nationality. Because you are so focused on that one thing. It is a survival instinct,” she said.
Yamashita also has studied how the “other race effect” can undermine eyewitness identification.
“Studies have shown that a person is unable to identify a person of another race as well as a person of their own race,” she said. “We have greater sensitivity to faces we are used to, faces of our own race, as opposed to faces of another race.”
Yamashita said the dangers of relying too heavily on eyewitness identification is highlighted by the book “Picking Cotton,” which was co-written by Jennifer Thompson, a rape victim, and Ronald Cotton, whom Thompson positively identified as her rapist. Even though he had an alibi witness, Cotton was convicted and sent to prison.
Meanwhile, another convict bragged about committing the crime, but, when Thompson saw his picture, she continued to maintain her original identification.
“Her memory constantly had Cotton’s face in her mind, so she said, no, that (other convict) is not the guy who raped me,” Yamashita said.
Finally, DNA tests showed Cotton was not guilty and he was released after more than a decade.
“We have to realize, if we get this wrong, we are going to send the wrong person to prison,” Yamashita said.
One Click at a Time
Teaching digitally connected youth
By Estella Porras
Estella Porras
This is what I see every day walking into my classroom: Rows of students with their necks bended over glowing screens while their fingers type, tap, scroll and swipe sending uncountable bytes of LOLs, emoji, photos, and status updates to the world.
Teaching in the midst of omnipresent digital devices and the unprecedented exchange of information represents a huge challenge for educators. Many of us wonder how to respond to the digital experience of the so-called millennials. How do we engage digitally distracted students? How does the curriculum meaningfully integrate the reality of online lives?
Last fall semester I asked my HCOM 307 class to monitor one week of their media consumption. In average students said they spent 37 hours a week with digital media (including social media, mobile and all computer use). In their reflection, most of them were surprised by the amount of time spent in front of screens, and some said that they wanted to scale back. In general, most of them didn’t express much concern about privacy issues.
It’s not news that most millennials are permanently connected. In a 2015 study by the American Press Institute, “51 percent of millennials say they are mostly or almost always online or connected while 39 percent say their lives are a mix of online and offline.” However, being “almost always” connected does not necessarily mean that youth are educated about the use of the internet and digital media.
The assumption that young people are automatically savvy in terms of digital media is problematic. Professor Eszter Hargittai, an internet researcher from Northwestern University, urges us to unpack the myth of “digital natives,” the assumption that growing up with the internet means that youth inherently understand its inner working. That’s not the case, she says, as they need to learn things such online privacy, how to manage an online persona, and I would add, how to ethically respond to trolling and abusive mediated communication.
Scholars have coined the term “digital media literacy,” suggesting that beyond learning to use digital tools to chat, play and consume, youth should also learn to become critical and selective users of technology, to engage as responsible citizens,to share, collaborate, and create content in a safe and respectful manner.
In her book “It’s complicated: The Digital Lives of Teenagers,” author Danah Boyd describes how teens form their identities, gain information and reflect about politics and future in their social networks. The emergence of hashtag movements like#BlackLivesMatter or #YesAllWomen highlights the fact that today’s civic engagement of youth happens online, and that educators need to support a digitally empowered generation to make sense of this reality.
However, this networked experience is not the same for everyone. Social and economic status plays a role in the way people engage with digital media. For instance, low-income, rural, and Spanish speakers in Californian lag behind other groups in terms of online access and digital skills. Disparities have narrowed in the last years but still persist, according to a 2014 paper titled “California’s Digital Divide”by the Public Policy Institute of California. This data is consistent with a report on Teens and Technology published this year by the Pew Research Center. One finding from the report is that Black and Latino youth use mobile phones more often than other groups, but at the same time are less likely than other groups to have a connected computer at home,which ultimately limits richer engagement.
Census data shows that the digital media landscape reflects inequality and privilege and, as Boyd writes in her blog, online experiences are diverse: “Teens use of social media is significantly shaped by race and class, geography, and cultural background.”
Besides demystifying the digital native trope, and recognizing digital disparities, another piece of reflection for educators —and perhaps the most important one, is about the quality of human communication that happens in mediated environments. Is it possible, despite the frenzy of sound bites, blips, and clicks, that youth be attentive, empathetic, and able to listen to others deeply?
Educating today’s youth requires us to not only look at the opportunities of the digital tools at hand but also to the quality of the communication that they enable. We need to examine our own fears, habits, obsessions, privileges and assumptions regarding youth and technology. Then, patiently, we can encourage our students to deeply and meaningfully listen to others and engage, slow down to preserve sanity, and connect to the sea of data one click at a time.
News Briefs
Published Dec. 20, 2019
Otter Athletics inducts inaugural Hall of Fame members
California State University, Monterey Bay, announced its inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class this year. The first honorees — including eight student-athletes, two coaches and one national championship team — were inducted on Feb. 16, 2019, at the University Center.
“Our Hall of Fame allows us to recognize individuals who have shaped our identity and contributed significantly to the growth of our university and athletics programs,” Director of Athletics Kirby Garry said. “(We) look forward to building on this new tradition in future years.”
In alphabetical order, the inductees were: Dana Andrews – Women’s Basketball (2006-09), all–time leading scorer; Bobbi Bonace – Administrator/Coach (1996-2007), first director of intercollegiate athletics; Cicillia Chudivan – Women’s Golf (2007-10), All-American, all-time winningest golfer; Rheann Fall – Volleyball (2008-11), All-American, career kills leader; Brian Haggett – Baseball (2012-13), first Academic All-American; Bob Johnson – Community supporter, passionate backer of Otter Athletics and CSUMB; Devougn Lamont – Men’s Basketball (2005-06), first player to average 20 points per game; Chealsea (Laning) Brown – Water Polo (2005-08), career record holder for goals and points; Ashlee Trotter – Softball (2006–09), captain of first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship team; Bill Trumbo – Administrator/Coach (2000-06), led CSUMB to NCAA Division II membership; Erik Uppman – Cross Country (1998-2001), captain of first conference championship team (California Pacific Conference); Team of Distinction – 2011 Men’s Golf Team, CSUMB’s first national championship team.
CSUMB launches innovative Responsible Business MBA
The College of Business at CSUMB launched the world’s first Responsible Business Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program in fall 2019. The entirely new curriculum is designed around the theme of “Innovation, Responsibility, Impact,” with a quintuple bottom line adding “Ethics” and “Equity” to the traditional triple bottom line of “People, Planet, Profit.”
“We’re emphasizing critical systems thinking, continuous improvement, integrated communications, and creative problem solving — in an expanded quintuple bottom line context — to develop the Responsible Business mindset and toolkit,” Dean Shyam Kamath said.
Responsible Business goes beyond the triple bottom line to educate business leaders to develop and transform organizations into 21st-century business models. The quintuple bottom line enables businesses to achieve financial success while taking care of valuable human and environmental resources, Kamath said.
With busy working professionals and executives in mind, the program is 100% online to offer maximum flexibility. The curriculum consists of 38 units delivered in sequence across 14 individual courses. The online MBA degree can be earned in as few as 18 months. “The faculty have thoughtfully created a unique education experience,” said Nicolas Dahan, program director. “It builds on the university’s tradition of concern for community, ethical leadership, social justice, and environmental stewardship.”
Go online to mba.csumb.edu to learn more.
WASC grants accreditation for 10 more years
California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) achieved reaffirmation of its accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in July 2019. The reaffirmation is for 10 years, the longest achievable period of accreditation.
The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) commended CSUMB in a number of areas, particularly the increase in graduation rates since 2011. A recent Chronicle of Higher Education publication recognized CSUMB as one of three public universities in the U.S. with the greatest improvements in graduation rates. The Commission also praised the university for its commitment to the whole student, a culture of innovation and strong regional stewardship.
“I would like to thank all the many faculty, staff and administrators who made this achievement possible through their on-going and lasting commitment to reflection and improvement which was visible throughout the Institutional Report submitted to WSCUC as part of the reaccreditation effort,” President Eduardo M. Ochoa said.
Accreditation aids institutions in developing and sustaining effective educational programs and assures the educational community, the general public, and other organizations that an accredited institution has met high standards of quality and effectiveness.
CSUMB professor, researchers decode white shark genome
Assistant Professor Nate Jue with the School of Natural Sciences at Cal State Monterey Bay collaborated with an international team of researchers to decode the entire genome of the white shark. The results of their study were announced in March 2019 and marked a major scientific breakthrough which could assist in cancer prevention in humans.
The findings were published in the scientific journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” Through comparisons with other species, genetic adaptations in the white sharks can help scientists better understand how important processes like the repair of damaged DNA may function in other organisms including humans.
The researchers discovered unique blood-clotting and cancer-protection genes within the white shark genome. Further studies may assist medical researchers in their efforts to prevent cancer, treat age-related ailments and heal injuries in humans.
In addition, researchers were shocked to discover the size of the white shark genome measured approximately one-and-a-half times the size of the human genetic code. Decoding the white shark genome may also assist with the conservation of this often feared, yet vulnerable species by providing information about white shark population dynamics.
Since the university opened in 1995, the campus has grown from 650 students in repurposed buildings on a former Army base to a 21st century institution for teaching, research and innovation.
To accommodate the expected growth to 12,000 students by 2024, the campus master plan is being updated. The master plan provides a road map for growth and renewal of the campus. It includes academic needs such as classrooms and labs; student and residential life, such as a student union, recreation center and housing; infrastructure; sustainability; transportation; and connections with neighboring communities. The draft is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
After a series of meetings with campus groups to start the process, it became clear that there is an interest in making the campus more pedestrian- and bike-friendly.
Page/BMS Design Group of San Francisco has been hired to lead the process.
Marina, university team up on student housing project
It’s about as far as you can get from dormitory life. The Promontory, a student housing complex just north of campus in Marina, opened in August. It’s the first new housing to come online since 2004. The project consists of three 150,000-square-foot, four-story buildings, with a total of 174 units and 579 beds. All units — which range from one to four bedrooms —come with a microwave, stove/range, dishwasher and washer and dryer.
The development has plenty of perks that have proven popular with students: a two-level fitness center, a game room with pool table, study rooms, a cyber café with kitchen, and a theater. Each of the buildings has an interior courtyard.
The project was built to LEED silver standards. It is the first joint housing venture between the city of Marina and CSUMB.
CSUMB acquires National Steinbeck Center
California State University, Monterey Bay and the National Steinbeck Center have completed a deal that will bring the university to the city of Salinas.
Under terms of the deal, negotiated among the university, the Steinbeck Center and the city of Salinas, CSUMB’s corporation purchased the building for $3 million. In addition, CSUMB paid the city $100,000 for the land beneath the building.
The Steinbeck Center will remain as a tenant, with an 80-year lease.
“This is our front door to Salinas and we’re going to use this as a way to connect to the community and respond to their needs,” said CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa.
The University Corporation at Monterey Bay is a non-profit 501(c)(3) auxiliary organization that operates as the business arm of the university. It provides direct support for a number of university programs and activities.
The university is considering how to use the space. Possibilities include cultural and educational programming and outreach by staff members from CSUMB’s admissions and financial aid offices. In addition, the space will continue to be available as a resource for the community.
“We are planning on engaging the campus and our partners in Salinas in discussions of how we might best advance the mission of the university and meet community needs,” said CSUMB Provost Bonnie Irwin.
Art donations bring campus to life
Walk into the library and look around. Many of the walls have color and character thanks to the multiple pieces of beautiful art that decorate the walls. These pieces, along with pieces displayed throughout campus, are made possible by the University Art Committee – and more is on the way.
The University Art Committee, comprised of Holly Ochoa, administrators, faculty, staff and students, is a recommending body to the President that facilitates the acquisition and placement of donated art throughout campus. Many pieces are possible thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor.
The artists represented among the works that CSUMB has been gifted include Eleen Auvil (the copper panel piece at the library stairwell), Susan Manchester, Barry Masteller, Amy Ellingson, Chris Winfield, Charles Eckart, Lucas Bloc, Cynthia Ona Innis, Susan Parker, Rick Arnitz, and Jamie Brunson. In the library reference area, the Cornwell mural is displayed on loan from the Monterey Museum of Art.
In addition, a three piece work by Vern Trindade, recently exhibited at the Triton Museum in San Jose, will be mounted in the near future at the library. For more information or to inquire about making art donations, contact the committee chair, Ilene Feinman, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, at ifeinman@csumb.edu.
Published Feb. 2, 2019
Salinas Center for Arts & Culture celebrates one-year anniversary
California State University, Monterey Bay’s Salinas Center For Arts and Culture officially celebrated its first anniversary with a series of Dias de Muertos events on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. The center is housed within CSUMB @ Salinas City Center and strives to create a community of artists and a culture of activism in Salinas.
Over the past 12 months, the center has hosted a wide range of events, all free and open to the public, to include monthly First Friday events. Along with community-centered events encouraging local residents to visit, the center has held countless exhibitions featuring artwork from local artists and CSUMB students.
The center serves as a pivotal piece in extending CSUMB’s impact into the Salinas community and upholding the mission and vision of CSUMB. Hosting open community events is in keeping with CSUMB’s role as a community resource, providing forums for provocative discussions that can impact thought and action on issues important to our community.
Director Enid Ryce said the center serves as a boon for students as well, with “opportunities to create exhibitions, work in collaboration with community partners, and be in conversation with national figures in arts and humanities.”
Grant supports continued growth of Teacher Pathway Program
Hartnell College and California State University, Monterey Bay’s joint Teacher Pathway Program received a $335,000 grant from The Claire Giannini Fund last Fall that will help ensure the program’s continued growth and success. The program prepares fully-qualified elementary and special education teachers for Monterey County communities, with an eye towards sustainability.
The first cohort of the program, which began in fall 2016, has entered its third year. Students have achieved an 86 percent graduation rate — a much higher graduation rate than students enrolled in a traditional program — and earned their associate’s degree for transfer in two years. The first cohort is now working to earn their bachelor’s degrees in liberal studies and teaching credentials at CSUMB.
The Teacher Pathway Program is a collaborative “grow-our-own” solution to addressing the regional teacher shortage, said CSUMB College of Education Dean Jose Luis Alvarado.
The unique partnership, along with the streamlined program design, reduces the time it takes to transfer, thereby reducing costs to the participants.
The success of the program has resulted in expansion to new locations in South Monterey County and Salinas, and an enrollment increase of 80 percent with 28, 38 and 42 students in each cohort over the last three years.
Congressman Panetta introduces bill supporting veteran students
Congressman Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, introduced the Veterans Resource Center Act during a press conference last fall at CSUMB. The legislation would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide federal grants to public universities to establish, maintain, and provide services at Veterans Resource Centers on campuses. It also incentivizes priority registration for veteran and military-connected students.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon, empowers universities to establish support centers modeled after the proven success of the California State University system’s Veteran Success Centers. CSUMB currently has more than 50 veteran students and a Veteran Student Services center that provides information on campus resources, veteran benefits, veteran service organizations, and social and study opportunities.
“Federal tuition support under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill expires after three years, pressuring veteran students to complete their degrees early,” Panetta said.
“This bill will help our veterans choose classes that fit their personal needs, allowing them to graduate on time, while simultaneously providing them social and educational support. While these support resources are utilized throughout the California State University system, including here at home at CSUMB, I look forward to expanding this service to universities and veterans across the country.”
CSUMB business students attend West Point ethics conference
Two CSUMB College of Business students participated in the 34th annual National Conference on Ethics in America (NCEA) at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, N.Y, in October. The two-day conference is part of the USMA Cadet Character Education Program, and outstanding civilian students from universities across the country are invited to attend.
Brandon Baughn, a business administration and marketing major, and Alice Oaks, who is studying business administration and accounting, were able to attend thanks to the generous support of a sponsor.
This year’s conference theme was “Grit: The Unyielding Determination to Prevail.” It aimed to inspire and challenge attendees to overcome obstacles to achieve their goals, as well as find innovative solutions for pressing problems.
Keynote speaker Shilo Harris, a retired U.S. Army Cavalry Scout, survived devastating injuries after his armored vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq. Other speakers included Karl Meltzer, an ultramarathon record holder; Capt. Shaye Haver, the first female Army Ranger; and Adrianne Haslet, the Boston Marathon bombing survivor who won ballroom dance competitions and ran Boston twice after losing a leg.
Applications soar for fall enrollment
A record number of students applied to attend Cal State Monterey Bay for the Fall 2016 semester.
The university received 16,208 freshmen applications by the Nov. 30 deadline to apply. That’s up almost 5 percent from the previous year. The number of transfer students applying to attend CSUMB increased 15 percent to 4,124.
“We are slowing our enrollment growth to match available resources for Fall 2016,” said Dr. Ronnie Higgs, vice president for student affairs and enrollment services. “We anticipate the enrollment to be just under 7,000 students.”
The entire California State University system received a record number of applications for Fall, with more than 830,000 submitted by prospective students, marking a 4.8 percent increase and more than 40,000 applications over last year’s total.
“CSUMB is a first-choice institution,” Dr. Higgs said. “Students from the region, California and beyond know that CSUMB will prepare them for success.”
CSUMB expands its presence in Salinas
Cal State Monterey Bay has leased the main building vacated by last year’s closure of Heald College in Salinas and will begin offering classes in that facility later this year.
The lease, which went into effect Feb. 1, is for a 25,000-square-foot building located on North Main Street off Alvin Drive. The building includes 11 classrooms, several of which can serve as labs, and a number of offices. The facility will be known as CSUMB @ North Salinas.
“Leasing the building previously occupied by Heald College will allow us to increase our outreach and our course offerings to Salinas and the Salinas Valley,” said CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa. “With the space crunch on our main campus, and the need to expand higher education opportunities in Salinas, this seemed to provide an ideal opportunity.”
The building has been vacant since April 2015, when the for-profit college’s parent company, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., closed its remaining campuses.
CSUMB first established a presence in Salinas last year, when the University Corporation purchased the National Steinbeck Center’s building in Oldtown.
Renovations are continuing on the building, to be known as CSUMB @ Salinas City Center. The National Steinbeck Center remains the name of the non-profit organization that manages the Steinbeck museum, which continues to occupy about half of the downtown structure.
$1 million grant creates data science program
Starting next fall, CSU Monterey will train students in the field of biomedical data science, thanks to a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Biomedical data science is the application of statistics and computer science to biomedical problems. It has hundreds of applications, from tracking disease outbreaks to providing personalized medical care.
CSUMB will partner with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Big Data in Translational Genomics over the five-year project.
“The emphasis for the program is really on the students and on preparing them for careers,” said Dr. Judith Canner, a CSUMB statistics professor and the principle investigator on the grant. The funding will enable CSUMB to create data science classes, train faculty, and fund student research - one of CSUMB’s strengths.
CSUMB professors will develop interdisciplinary coursework in data science, using classes offered at UCSC as a model. “UCSC is serving as a mentor institution,” Dr. Canner said. “They have a lot of courses and programs in this area, and we are just in the beginning stages of development.”
The ultimate goal of the grant is to enhance diversity in biomedical data science by opening up opportunities for CSUMB students who might not otherwise have access to such advanced training.
Students help with one city’s sustainability efforts
CSUMB has partnered with the city of Salinas as part of the Sustainable City Year Program. Dr. Dan Fernandez, professor of Science and Environmental Policy, is coordinating the effort.
The Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) is a one-year partnership between the campus and an interested city partner. Regional cities often have projects that have some element of sustainability (mixed-use development, water conservation, improved signage, and increased access to bike or walkways, etc.) that they would like to undertake, but lack sufficient staff time or resources.
Through the program, CSUMB students have the opportunity to work on real-world problems, while the city benefits from the university’s expertise as it provides fresh perspectives on familiar issues.
Last fall, CSUMB completed its first semester of running this program. Three classes worked with Salinas on projects related to road design for West Alisal Street, analyzing the wealth of GIS data the city collects related to parking and infrastructure, and looking at parent-child interactions within public spaces. More classes are working with the city this semester.
Through this program, CSUMB has become a member of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network, including more than two dozen institutions across the country. CSUMB is the second school in the state of California to initiate this program.
When graduates cross the stage at commencement next May, they will join not only the Class of 2015, but also The Class of 3 Million – three million graduates of the California State University system.
It’s one of the largest alumni networks in the world.
To mark this milestone, 2015 graduates as well as alumni from all 23 CSU campuses are invited to “sign” The Class of 3 Million Yearbook. The online yearbook is a way for CSU alums to connect and build relationships with one another.
Everyone who signs the yearbook will be entered to win one of three $10,000 scholarships for a current or future student. All 2015 grads will receive Class of 3 Million silicone wristbands in time for commencement ceremonies.
Sign the yearbook at Classof3Million.calstate.edu.
Professor, grad student work to protect Big Sur River
Cal State Monterey Bay Professor Doug Smith and graduate student Sam Phillips are collaborating with federal and state resource agencies to develop the Big Sur River Watershed Management Plan. The plan summarizes the environmental condition of the watershed and details the steps that residents and resource managers can take to sustain the local salmon population.
The Big Sur River and other ecologically critical streams and wetlands are constantly threatened by human activities that alter how water flows over and through the landscape. Urbanization and agricultural impacts are the leading cause of declining salmon populations along California’s Central Coast. While some impacts are inevitable, they can be markedly reduced or avoided through thoughtful and well-considered planning.
Resource managers can use the Big Sur management plan to apply for state and federal funding to make improvements that will help this important species thrive far into the future. Phillips used a wide range of cutting-edge tools in the project. The internship experience helped him land a position as a Fish Habitat Specialist with Eco Logical Research, Inc.
Study could yield changes in fishing behavior
With a $320,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and help from several partners, Professor James Lindholm will study how the impact of traditional trawling on the seafloor may be reduced by using modified gear.
In traditional bottom trawling, large nets are dragged across the seafloor, altering fish habitats that occur there. Dr. Lindholm’s study will compare the impacts of traditional gear to newly modified gear that significantly reduces contact with the seafloor.
The project will start next summer off Half Moon Bay. “We hope the study will yield insights that result in changes in fishing behavior,” Dr. Lindholm said.The project is a collaborative effort among CSUMB, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and fisherman Giovanni Pennisi.
Catch CSUMB on tv
In partnership with KCBA Fox 35, the university is producing a weekly television program, “Campus to Community.” It’s part of CSUMB’s commitment to serving as a catalyst for positive change – through education, outreach and public service.
The show highlights speakers and issues of interest to the Central Coast. Students, alumni, faculty and staff are involved in the production of the program. Some installments feature one speaker, others are a magazine format with short segments highlighting various programs and professors.
The hour-long show started in early October and airs every Sunday at 8 a.m.
KCBA can be found on channel 3 on Comcast and on channel 35.1 on the campus cable system.
Cinematic Arts Professor Luis Camara pens successful film screenplay
Luis Camara has added another accomplishment to an impressive cinematic career. This year, the longtime CSUMB Cinematic Arts professor wrote a screenplay for a comedy that became a box office success in Mexico.
The film “Me estás matando Susana,” (you’re killing me Susana) is based on a novel by the prominent Mexican author José Agustin. It stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Verónica Echegui and opened on 600 screens in Mexico, coming in 7th at the box office on opening week. Reviews have been positive, with major newspapers such as El Norte, Reforma and Exelsior praising the film and screenplay.
In a video review, critics for El Norte called Camara’s screenplay “a solid script” and that the “well executed film” captures “the essence of the Mexican Onda literary movement, while actualizing it to the present day.”
Originally from Mexico City, Camara is a graduate of the American Film Institute. He has directed the award-winning short films “Endgame” and “Ex Voto,” and the feature films “Steel Trap” and “Silencio,” winner of the best feature award at the Los Angeles Fear and Fantasy Film Festival and best cinematography award at the Queens International Film Festival.
CSUMB students, local researchers to benefit from NOAA Grant
CSUMB is one of six universities across the nation that will benefit from a new five-year, $15.5-million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems. NOAA has approved a total of $3 million to be awarded this year for the first phase of the new NOAA Cooperative Science Center.
“With CSUMB’s portion of the funding, we will be able to support between six and eight students per year on our campus,” said CSUMB School of Natural Sciences Associate Professor Corey Garza.
Graduate students will be eligible for two years of funding; including a yearly stipend of $20,000 and the full cost of tuition. Graduate students also receive a $10,000 scholarship to support research and summer funding up to $5,000 to support research activities at a NOAA facility.
Undergraduates funded through the center will receive one year of stipend support up to $12,000 and a research account of $1,000. Faculty who mentor students through the center will have access to funding to support the purchase of supplies and non-capital equipment for their respective groups. Access to NOAA vessel time and post-doctoral funding will also be available.
Research topics include: fisheries, eco-forecasting, terrestrial impacts on coastal systems, climate change, ocean acidification and ocean engineering.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at CSUMB receives CCNE accreditation
CSU Monterey Bay’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is now the only Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredited program in the tri-county region.
Bachelor-prepared registered nurses (RNs) advance the nursing profession and qualify RNs for advanced professional career opportunities in a wider array of healthcare settings.
“BSN graduates are prepared with an increased knowledge of the theoretical practice of nursing and in turn are able to provide a broader spectrum of healthcare to our community,” said CSUMB Department of Nursing Director, Savitri Singh-Carlson, who has a doctorate in nursing. “This program will help address a critical healthcare gap in the region by increasing the number of bachelor-prepared RNs.”
While there is no direct entry BSN program at CSUMB, partnerships and pathway programs with local community colleges facilitate a seamless transition from associate degree in nursing (ADN) and RN programs to the CSUMB BSN program. By earning a BSN, RNs are also prepared to pursue a master of science in nursing (MSN).
According to Singh-Carlson, the CSUMB Department of Nursing hopes to submit a proposal for a MSN degree in 2017 with hopes that the degree could be offered in 2018.
CSUMB Science and Environmental Policy is now the School of Natural Sciences
The CSUMB Science and Environmental Policy Division has a new identity. The division has changed its name to the School of Natural Sciences (SNS), and will continue to be a part of the College of Science, together with the School of Computing & Design and the Mathematics & Statistics Department.
The SNS is the home for an array of academic degree programs, research laboratories, and community outreach programs. All SNS programs provide outstanding opportunities for over 1,300 students to learn how to use interdisciplinary science, technology and communication skills to serve community needs.
The SNS places a heavy emphasis on preparing students for rewarding careers and more advanced academic study in fields related to environmental resource assessment, management, and policy. The faculty provides particular strengths in marine and terrestrial biology and ecology, watershed science, marine science, molecular biology and genetics, environmental education, and advanced technologies for geospatial data collection, analysis and visualization.
Enid Baxter Ryce’s Film Recognized
CSUMB professor and experimental filmmaker Enid Baxter Ryce had her Fort Ord feature film “A Land for War” highlighted in March by The Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project in Washington D.C.
The film was also screened, along with a collection of her students’ documentaries in “Fort Ord: A Sense of Place,” at the National Gallery of Art as a part of the D.C. Environmental Film Festival.
In “A Land for War,” Ryce documents the lands and ruins of the historic Fort Ord and portrays the impact of the military base on the terrain and people. The film’s original musical score is by CSUMB Music Instructor Lanier Sammons.
The student film program, “Fort Ord: A Sense of Place,” is a compilation of the university students’ documentary and experimental shorts focused on the ecology, community and history of the base. The films also feature oral histories collected for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.
Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 to collect, preserve and make accessible the first-hand remembrances of America’s war veterans from WWI through current conflicts, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and understand the realities of war.
Student Supports Immigrants with Scholarship Program
Daisy Leon Melendrez, a CSUMB service learning student leader, has been selected as a Principal Community Scholar for her community project to provide information to immigrant communities about their constitutional rights.
Melendrez is among 20 college students from Iowa and California selected for the first class of the new program.
The project addresses fears and anxieties of those in immigrant communities about impending changes to immigration policy. The recipients were selected by Principal, Iowa Campus Compact and California Campus Compact after being nominated by faculty or staff from their college or university. They underwent a rigorous review process.
Melendrez is a collaborative health & human services major. She has been the liaison to the Central Coast Citizenship Project in East Salinas.
“We are excited that Daisy has been selected as a Principal Community Scholar for her community project to provide information to immigrant communities about their constitutional rights,” said Pamela Motoike, professor at the CSUMB Service Learning Institute and program adviser.
CSUMB Signs Partnership with Universidad de León, Spain
California State University Monterey Bay and Universidad de León, Spain signed a memorandum of understanding recently, creating an international partnership that opens great possibilities for exchange of students, professors and educational resources.
Universidad de León delegates President Juan Francisco Garcia Marin, Professor Oscar Fernandez and Professor Eduardo Compadre toured the CSUMB campus, and met with students, faculty and staff for an official welcoming and signing ceremony to commemorate the new international partnership between the two universities.
The new alliance will allow the exchange of undergraduate students between both universities during certain academic periods. In addition, the alliance will facilitate the opportunity to help each other learn a second language, study a new culture through personal interaction and share best teaching practices in a variety of subject areas.
CSUMB Renovates Veterans Resource Center
CSUMB recently celebrated the renovation of its Veterans Resource Center, thanks to a generous donation of $6,000 by The Home Depot Foundation (THDF).
The renovations, which include new carpeting and furnishings, were received from THDF in partnership with the Student Veterans of America (SVA). The new and improved Veterans Resource Center offers an inviting atmosphere, allowing veterans to seek assistance with benefits, gain access to support services and build social support networks to motivate each other to stay in college.
“The veteran students on campus finally have a fully furnished space where they can study, relax and connect with each other when not in class,” said CSUMB Veteran Services Coordinator Giselle Young.
CSUMB Student Veterans Organization President, business major and Army veteran Gilbert Bernabe says the Veterans Resource Center has become a home away from home. He utilizes the center more now than during his first semester. “That is all thanks to the work of Giselle, and the sponsors, for making the resource center feel welcoming,” said Bernabe.
“We were very lucky to have received the generous financial support from The Home Depot Foundation,” said Young.
10 More Reasons to be Thankful for Nurses
CSUMB first nursing class makes history
For one group of history-making Cal State Monterey Bay graduates, it’s not about the caps and gowns. It’s about the pin.
CSUMB’s first class of 10 nursing graduates participated in a pinning ceremony in late December. Commencement will follow in May.
“The ceremony is a tradition in nursing, where graduates receive a pin unique to that program,” said Dr. Marianne Hultgren, director of nursing at CSUMB. “It dates back to the days of Florence Nightingale, when a pin was a way to identify a nurse.”
Students in the program designed the pin, which can be worn throughout a nurse’s career.
The ceremony marked an important milestone not just for the students, but also for the university. A nursing program was discussed in CSUMB’s early days. Funded by a grant, planning started in 2008; the first students were admitted four years later.
“As a pioneer, I feel like I have helped lay the foundation for future nursing classes,” said Jennifer Riccobono. “The students in our graduating class have set the bar high.”
Riccobono wasn’t aware of the possibilities in the profession until she entered the program.
“Nursing is not just caring for the patient at the bedside. Nursing is caring for whole communities; nursing is using technology so that the patient information we collect can be used in a meaningful way. Nursing is working to create health care policies that will benefit generations to come,” she said.
CSUMB offers the only bachelor of science in nursing degree in the tri-county region. The program started in 2012 in collaboration with four regional community colleges. Students begin their education at one of the two-year schools, spend time in a “blended” learning environment, and then complete their studies at CSUMB. They receive an associate degree in nursing from their community college and a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) from CSUMB.
In the summer of 2014, a second track was added that allows already-employed nurses with associate’s degrees to earn a BSN while continuing to work. Classes are offered on campus, online and at local hospitals to make it easier for working nurses.
“The one thing I know for sure about our graduating class is no matter what nursing position we fill in the community, we will put our patient’s needs first and strive to make positive changes in health care,” Riccobono said.
Learn more about the nursing program at csumb.edu/nursing
Elevating Innovation
CSUMB takes convergence of business and technology to the next level
Describe a relationship between the business and technology programs at most major universities. One word usually comes to mind: siloed. Another word is disconnected. On many campuses, they operate in two different universes.
Business students who develop marketing plans are often challenged trying to overcome the technological obstacles when gathering the data. Technology majors don’t usually work on group projects with fellow students who plan to start a business.
Not at CSUMB.
Thanks to the opening of the new Business and Information Technology (BIT) building, the College of Business and the School of Computing and Design are starting a new era of collaboration. The two programs are now housed in a gleaming 58,000-square-foot structure, allowing students to work side-by-side in multidisciplinary teams.
This approach is straight out of the business world, providing students with real-world skills and practical knowledge when they enter the job market.
Valuable perspective
Eric Tao, a professor in the School of Computing and Design and the director of the Institute for Innovation and Economic Development, was a driving force behind the conception and development of the BIT building. For his students, working closely with business students provides valuable perspective on the limits of technology. “A student can have an idea that looks fabulous on paper – but there could be no market for it,” he said. “You need to establish there’s a need for your product.”
For business students, who are often focused on profit margins and management, the technological knowledge to implement a product launch is invaluable, according to Shyam Kamath, dean of the College of Business.
“We are changing the way we teach. We are changing the way we research. The skills needed by students for the job market today are very different from yesterday,” said Kamath. “You need human skills in management and also need to be digitally knowledgeable, using critical thinking and learning quickly to keep pace with technology. This facility allows us to work together. The labs represent that potential.”
The BIT building has 12 laboratories, all of them shared by the College of Business and the School of Computing and Design. One lab focuses on entrepreneurial skills and product design. Another focuses on data used in financial products, commodities and services trading. Other labs are devoted to website design and behavioral research.
In other words, business and technology can conceptualize a product together. Business can determine if the product is financially viable and there’s a market for it. Technology can develop and market the product by determining consumer behavior.
Kamath’s goal is to bring industry partners into the BIT building and have them work directly with students on product design. One lab will house media production equipment such as large format printers, animation rendering systems, 3-D printers and open work spaces. Once equipped, the lab will allow students to produce product prototypes, concept designs, drawings and online media for external clients.
Both Tao and Kamath are enthusiastic about the collaboration between their respective colleges. Tao notes the philosophy of transparency that was incorporated into the BIT building’s design and how that’s reflected in the facility’s physical space.
Innovative
“Most of this building is glass – there’s a feeling of openness,” he said. “When we were planning the layout of the building, we wanted transparency to be felt in the physical space to reflect the academic philosophy. Many buildings in academia are closed with small windows. There’s a feeling of isolation. Not here.”
According to Tao, nearly every room of the BIT building can accommodate events for the outside community, including Chamber of Commerce meetings, technology showcases and research symposiums. Tao envisions having a community event here at least once a month. “This integrates our campus with the outside word – and breaks down the ‘ivory tower’ perception of academia,” he said.
The new collaboration between the College of Business and School of Computing and Design is just the beginning. The new facility is an innovative place. It’s a community place.
“We are truly tapping into CSUMB’s interdisciplinary vision,” said Kamath. “This brings it all together.”
Editor’s note: for more information on features and sustainability strategies for the new Business and Information Technology building, along with additional images, go online to csumb.edu/bit.
Class Notes & Remembering Dana Lookadoo
1997
Mary O. Lesher (B.A. Liberal Studies) is a retired educator, author, singer and songwriter. She used her master’s work from 2008 to author a book called “Return to the Soul of Your Child,” a No. 1 best seller in March 2014. Lesher retired from teaching in 2010. Lesher created a musical program called “Happy Sounds” and sings in various venues.
1998
Josh Evans (B.S. Earth Systems Science and Policy) received his RN license from Merced College in 2010 and currently works as an inpatient wound care supervisor at Mercy Medical Center.
2000
Katwyn T. (Miller) DeLaRosa (B.A. Social and Behavioral Sciences) was made a partner at the Bennett and Sharpe Law Firm where she specializes in employment law. Her husband Robert DeLaRosa (B.A. Human Communication) is finishing up his master’s in instructional design and technology at West Texas A & M. He is also assisting Breaking The Chains, a non-profit that builds safe houses for victims of human trafficking.
2001
Jason Bergman (B.A. Teledramatic Arts and Technology) began working for Disney right after graduation in 2001 and has been there since. He has screen credits in all feature animation movies for the last 14 years (including Frozen!). Bergman has been married for 10 years and has a 7-year old daughter.
Patricia ‘Tricia’ (Mynster) Dutcher (B.S. Earth Systems Science and Policy) earned a Master of Science and Ph.D. in environmental science after graduating CSUMB. She is now married and has a son. She also lived 13 years in Las Vegas, playing rugby and working extensively with public land management agencies. She focused on climate change and energy issues while teaching as a graduate student at UNLV.
2002
Zac Rempe (B.S. Management & International Entrepreneurship) is currently the general manager at Rempe Construction, a company started by his father in 1978. He credits CSUMB with refining his business skills. Rempe has continued his education in construction specific certifications through the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) and is now a NARI certified project manager. He is a member of the Marin Young Professionals Network and a charter member of 100 Who Care Marin County. Rempe married Melanie Taylor (B.A. Human Communication ’02), has two children, two cats (Clover & Sabrina), a dog (Wicket) and a fish (Ariel). An avid cyclist and runner, Rempe ran his first half marathon in April, 2015, and finished in one hour, 49 minutes.
2005
Heather Hatlo Porter (B.A. Teledramatic Arts and Technology) currently works as the vice president for marketing at Chegg, and also serves as the president of the board of directors for the Chegg Foundation.
Kyle Petty (B.A. Human Communication) earned a secondary teaching credential and a Master of Arts in composition from CSU Sacramento. Petty’s last trip to CSUMB coincided with his participation in the 2014 “Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge,” which included running the Boston Marathon, followed by the Big Sur Marathon held just six days later. Petty currently teaches English at Valley High School in Sacramento, where he lives with his wife and son.
2006
Tom Melville (B.A. Liberal Studies) works at his own real estate company, Tom Melville Properties. Melville helps sellers and buyers with listing and selling real estate in Carmel by the Sea, Monterey and Santa Cruz.
Kristin Theobald (B.A. Human Communication & Teaching Credential) taught English for Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, grades 6-12, for seven years right after receiving her teaching credential. She is now a founding teacher at a new charter school in Tacoma, Wash. Theobald is currently in an online master’s program through CSU Bakersfield. She loved going to CSUMB and reflects fondly on her college years as “some of the best of my life!”
Matthew Morey (B.A. Teledramatic Arts and Technology) is working for Visit Temecula Valley as their digital marketing manager, promoting tourism to Temecula through graphic and video advertising. He married his wife Dana (B.S. Earth Systems Science and Policy ‘07) last year.
Jessica (Hannibal) Bawdon (B.A. Human Communication) has worked in the Office of the Registrar at CSUMB as a graduation counselor for the past six years. She is currently in the interim position of graduation coordinator. In that position, Bawdon is working on several projects to transition to paperless processes and improve productivity while making it easier for students to check their graduation status. She is married with two children.
Nancy Martinsen (B.A. Human Communication) is currently working on her Ed.D. at San Francisco State University.
2007
Miranda (Chatigny) Henley (B.S. Earth Systems Science and Policy) completed CalStateTEACH, and now has been teaching for the past seven years. She is happily married to her husband Scott and enjoys living with her two pit bulls and 17 year-old stepson. They plan to move to Louisiana in the near future.
Margo Mullen (B.A. Visual and Public Art with a minor in Communication Design) is attending Otis College of Art and Design for a Master of Fine Arts in public practice (one of eight people to get in this year). What is even more amazing is that Suzanne Lacy, one of the founders of CSUMB’s Visual and Public Art Department, is the department chair of the Graduate Public Practice program at Otis College. Prior to this, Mullen was the creative arts director at the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz.
2008
David Calloway (B.A. Human Communication) returned to school to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He had been teaching at CSUMB in Collaborative Health and Human Services since fall 2010. He started teaching at CSUMB immediately after receiving his Master of Arts from San Diego State University.
Neil Lindberg (B.S. Telecommunications, Multimedia and Applied Computing) finally bought the Novara XL frame bike he always wanted from REI while at CSUMB. Lindberg’s software team has won the quarterly team award twice now. He enjoys spending time with his eight gorgeous nieces and nephews in St. Louis.
Maria Ceja (B.A. Human Communication) earned a master’s degree in Mexican American Studies at San Jose State. She married fellow Otter Efrem Valentin (B.S. Telecommunications, Multimedia and Applied Computing ‘06), traveled to Puerto Rico and purchased their first home. She is also the president of the CSUMB Alumni Association, Board of Directors.
2009
Gregory Cannon (B.S. Information Technology and Communication Design) is a resident physician at San Joaquin General Hospital in the internal medicine department.
Kyle Stoner (B.S. Environmental Science Technology & Policy) works as an environment scientist for the Calif. Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Omar Mendoza (B.A. World Languages &Cultures) is finishing a Master of Arts degree in Granada, Spain.
Dana Andrews (B.S. Business Administration) moved to the Bay Area to intern with the GS Warriors Youth Basketball program after graduating from CSUMB. It was a great transition from a lifestyle of a CSUMB student athlete to the working world. After a year, she landed her “dream job to drink coffee all day.” As a green coffee commodities trader, Andrews works with co-op’s and farms from across the world to import, buy and sell green coffee to roasters such as Peets, Blue Bottle and Stumptown. That job took her to San Diego where she currently “lives, plays, and breathes the ocean breeze!”
2010
Adam Flynn (B.S. Business Administration) is working “to bring the exciting Run for Your Lives zombie-themed mud run to locations across the country and overseas.” Married in 2014 in Las Vegas, Flynn also works with the world’s largest wholesale distributor of tabletop games and supplies.
Denise Simpson (B.A. Integrated Studies) works for Joullian Vineyards in Carmel Valley after working in broadcast media for approximately 10 years.
Ruben Martinez Jr. (B.A. Global Studies) attended the Pepperdine University School of Law and received a J.D. in 2014. While there, Martinez interned with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, in Washington D.C. for six months. He then passed the Calif. Bar Exam, and now has an immigration law practice in Pasadena.
Hillary Williamson Perez (B.A. Integrated Studies with a minor in Creative Writing and Social Action), celebrated her CSUMB graduation with a trip to the United Kingdom, where she participated in an archaeological dig outside Canterbury with her best friend. After volunteering onsite for a week, Perez rented a car with friends and proceeded to spend the next four weeks driving to Scotland up the west coast of Great Britain and back via the east coast. In fall 2011, Perez began graduate work at Pacifica Graduate Institute in the Mythological Studies department. After two years of intense study, she was awarded a Master of Arts in 2014, and was simultaneously approved for candidacy in Pacifica’s Ph.D. course in the same program. She married this year. After she graduates from the Ph.D. program, she hopes to“return to CSUMB to teach in the humanities department, where hopefully I can bring new interest to the mythology courses that so prepared me for my graduate work, and say thank you to my most beloved alma mater.”
Lauren Rolland (B.A. Human Communication) has been living on Oahu since 2012. She returned home to get married in 2013. Rolland and her husband now live on the North Shore, enjoying “a very outdoorsy lifestyle in and around the ocean.” They traveled to France for the honeymoon and since then have island-hopped in Hawaii and traveled to California on a regular basis. Rolland works at Freesurf Magazine, Hawaii’s No. 1 surf publication, working her way up to editor while learning the magazine publishing industry, which she loves. Rolland is also working with the World Surf League (WSL), as a media manager, allowing her to be on the pulse of regional Hawaii pro surfing and in the mix with all the athletes, directors, organizers, VIP and industry members.Rolland and her husband are enjoying owning their first home as well. “Aloha Otters!”
2011
Samuel Messina (B.S. Business Administration)took an internship at C.H. Robinson Worldwide, a logistics company with a produce transportation office in Monterey. Messina was then offered a full-time job when he graduated and began a career as a produce transportation sales representative. Messina then took a job as a web developer with Akamai Innovations Inc., a small tech startup located in downtown Monterey. Messina is one of several CSUMB alumni working for Akamai Innovations. They have hired two interns from the CSUMB College of Business since he’s been there. In addition, he passed the California real estate sales agent exam and “plans to put his license to good use in the near future.” Messina recently celebrated his three-year anniversary with his wife, Carrie.
Hilary O’Neil-Johnson (B.S. Kinesiology) applied to several accelerated-second degree nursing programs and ended up at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “My kinesiology degree helped me work as a personal trainer part-time while in nursing school.” O’Neil-Johnson completed her bachelor’s in nursing and became a registered nurse in 2013. She then started working part-time in a primary care clinic while beginning her master’s degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Penn with a focus in primary care and women’s health. She loves Philadelphia and plans to stay in the area to practice. O’Neil-Johnson had an article published in the Monterey County Herald about HPV vaccination last spring. “I’ll never forget my time in Monterey.”
Allison Shorr (B.S. Business Administration) got accepted into the UCLA extension paralegal training program and earned a certificate in 2012. Shorr now works at Strausser Sherman, a law firm which handles workers compensation cases with an emphasis on representing public safety members and their families.
Jorge Martinez (B.S. Business Administration) was recruited by a Big 4 accounting firm. After two summer internships while at CSUMB and two and a half years of professional experience, Martinez changed companies and began the next phase of his career at BlackLine Systems. Martinez’s degree emphasis was in accounting and IT. In 2014, Martinez got engaged to a CSUMB alumna, Elizabeth Coria (B.S. Business Administration ‘09) in Lisbon, Portugal. They both studied in Spain while at CSUMB in 2007-2008. Martinez also founded the CSUMB Accounting Society and has returned for annual presentations since graduating. “I will be involved with my alma mater through the accounting society and in any other way possible.”
Noemi Gomez (B.S. Kinesiology) went to physical therapy school at Duke University School of Medicine and graduated May 2015 with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Gomez recently returned to the Monterey Peninsula to practice at an orthopedic/sports clinic.
Frank McEntire (B.S. Computer Science and Information Technology with a minor in Mathematics) got married, had a son, still lives in the Monterey area and landed a good career job. “We just brought on CSUMB interns through the Monterey Bay Regional Academy of Computing and Education (MBRACE) program. Still supporting Otters!”
2012
Valerie Hulburt (B.A. Human Communications) served as the catering/ sales coordinator for Sodexo at CSUMB for more than two years.Afterwards, she was offered the job of catering manager for Sodexo’s account at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Hulburt has been “able to directly serve our country’s troops and experience what life on an ‘active’military base consists of.” She also developed the base’s first wedding guide to be used at the Officers Club.
Michelle Arcos (B.A. Human Communication), is a marketing associate for Women’s Center-Youth & Family Services, a non-profit organization that is San Joaquin County’s only provider of free, confidential services and shelter for homeless youth and victims of domestic violence,sexual assault and human trafficking. At Women’s Center-YFS, Arcos is responsible for planning fundraising events, managing the agencies social media accounts and website and coordinate the marketing, public and media relations efforts for the agency.
Jurija Metovic (B.A. Human Communication) has traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Metovic moved to Hawaii and started working with a startup business. She is currently with GoLeanSixSigma.com as the client experience manager. “I get to meet new people every day and improve the world one step at a time.”
Ryan T. Scott
2013
Ryan T. Scott (B.S. Kinesiology) is a laboratory instructor of human anatomy in the biology department, and is a graduate research student in the kinesiology department, both at San José State University. The research for his master’s degree is being conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center, Space Biosciences, within the bone and signaling laboratory. As a research associate there, Scott’s work is investigating the effects of simulated microgravity on hind-limb mouse bone structure, strength, and osteoclast activity in the presence of the antiresorptive drug, zoledronate. Scott was honored to be named a California State University, 2015-16 Pre-Doctoral Sally Casanova Scholar.
Kendra Haugh (B.A. Global Studies with a minor in Business) completed a master’s degree in international trade, investment, and development at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). There, Haugh found her passion for anti-corruption efforts, anti-money laundering,trade sanctions, and anti-terrorism financing studies. During her last semester of the master’s program, she wanted to do more than be in the classroom. Haugh applied for a professional service semester and began working the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Ian Bowers (B.S. Computer Science and Information Technology) was hired at Microsoft through the MACH program (Microsoft Academy of College Hires.) A two-year rotational program, Bowers has been able to work in three different organizations within Microsoft, in order to gain the breadth of experience to decide which org/team and type of work is the best fit. This came after a summer internship that Bowers completed at Microsoft while attending CSUMB, which he obtained with “the awesome help of the CSIT MBraceprogram.”
Lauren Robbins (B.A. Human Communication with a minor in Business) is pursuing a Master in Business Administration with an emphasis in global business. She is scheduled to graduate in April 2016.
Andrew Rose (B.A. Psychology) works as an assistant brewer at the Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey.
2014
Alisa Rodriguez (B.A. Human Communication), works in Career Pathways at John Muir Charter School.
Priscilla Vidal (B.A. Liberal Studies) works for a company called Play-Well TEKnologies, which teaches kids engineering skills with Legos. Vidal started off as an instructor and is now the after school and outreach coordinator. She works with all of Santa Clara, Monterey, and Santa Cruz areas. The program “brings creativity, critical thinking, and imagination to a classroom! Best job ever!”
In memory
Dana Lookadoo (B.S. Telecommunications, Multimedia and Applied Computing ’99)
Communicate, educate, engage and optimize – Dana Lookadoo embraced these principles and touched hundreds if not thousands of lives during her career. Lookadoo graduated magna cum laude from CSUMB in 1999, and was one of 12 Service Learning Award winners at her graduation. That was just the beginning. As the founder of Yo! Yo! SEO, Lookadoo was passionate about utilizing Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing and web usability for her clients’ success. She developed corporate training classes and technology curriculum for multiple companies and institutions, including Sun Microsystems and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She became an adjunct professor and taught computer courses at CSUMB.
Lookadoo was a mentor, a trainer, an author and an avid cyclist. She was also a friend to countless students and colleagues, a wife who called her husband “the light of my life,”and a daughter who considered her mother her best friend. A serious cycling accident in November 2013 damaged her spinal cord and left traumatic injuries throughout her body. Lookadoo fought to recover. Last April, “Ride 4 Dana”allowed thousands of riders to raise more than $19,000 toward her medical care.In September 2015, Lookadoo succumbed to her injuries. She was a cherished member of the Otter community.