Six California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) students qualified for the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) National Championship, after strong finishes in the ACMA Western Regional Invitational Tournament on campus earlier this month. Heather Pegg and Tim Appelbaum and Reema Abboud and Laila Nikiaen were undefeated heading into the quarter finals. Pegg and Appelbaum were the top seed in the tournament after the first day of preliminary rounds – the first time CSULB has ever had a top seed. The team of Nicole Wilson and Edgar Gutierrez reached the sweet sixteen and will also go on to the national championship. Nikiaen was the third ranked orator at the tournament. Abboud (6th), Appelbaum (7th), and Pegg (9th) also earned top speaker awards. The regional, which featured 32 teams from 15 schools around the country, is ranked at the strongest in the nation.
Robert Friis, PhD, (Health Science) has published the fourth edition of Epidemiology for Public Health Practice (Jones and Bartlett), which he co-authored with Thomas A. Sellers, director of the Moffitt Research Institute in Florida. The best-selling text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in introductory epidemiology. In October, Friis received a thank you letter from former President Jimmy Carter for his last book, Essentials of Environmental Health (Jones and Bartlett), which included information about the Carter Center’s African environmental work.
Lesley Farmer, EdD, (Educational Psychology, Administration and Counseling), received a Fulbright Award to present research and discuss school librarianship in Brazil. In October Farmer presented “The UNESCO School Library Manifesto and Its Impact on Brazil” and “From Automation Systems to Participatory Networks” at the International Association of School Librarianship and Regional Council of Librarianship Forum in Sao Paulo. She presented a paper on “School Library Services to Youth” at a regional Forum on School Librarianship held in Marilia, and she presented a paper on “Collaboration on Information Education" at a Dialogue on Information Education at the University of Sao Paulo. Farmer also visited several schools and public libraries and consulted with their librarians.
University College and Extension Services Dean Emeritus Marilyn Crego has received the Professional Contributions to Continuing Education award from the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) West. In awarding the honor, UCEA West noted that Crego had dedicated herself early in her academic career to working with adult learners, especially women who were re-entering college and the workplace. Crego retired from CSULB in August, but continues her service to the CSU as a consultant to the Vice Chancellor.
Shira Tarrant, PhD, (Women’s Studies) is publishing her third book Men and Feminism (Seal Press) in May 2009 and has started working on her fourth book, a co-edited anthology titled Fashion Talks: Undressing Power With Style. Her article "What's the Buzz About Boys?, an expose about shifting gender cues and what it means to be a “real guy” today, will be published this spring. Tarrant just returned from New York, where she appeared at KGB Bar’s nonfiction series along with filmmaker and activist Byron Hurt.
Lewis Ringel (Political Science), has published The Lanahan Readings in Media and Politics (Lanahan Publishers, Inc.), a collection of 42 essays written by noted scholars and seasoned journalists. The book covers the relationship between the media and politicians, the role of the media in elections, reporting on foreign affairs and national security and more.
In October, the METRANS Transportation Center marked “10 Years of Excellence” at the Galen Center in Los Angeles with a celebration reception and dinner. A partnership of CSULB and the University of Southern California, METRANS is a U.S. Department of Transportation designated University Transportation Center (UTC). Its mission is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan areas through research, education, and outreach.
Several professors in the Science Education Department have received grants recently. Laura Henriques, PhD, received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation for continued support of the Robert Noyce Scholars program. The grant provides financial support to Science, Engineering and Mathematics majors who commit to teach in high-need school districts. Students will receive $15,000 a year in return for teaching two years in high-need schools. William Straits, PhD, and Susan Gomez-Zwiep, PhD, have been awarded a $945,222 Improving Teacher Quality grant from the California Post-Secondary Education Commission for a four-year research and professional development project geared toward improving teachers’ abilities to integrate science content and English language instruction. They will work with James Kisiel, PhD, (Science Education), Nat Hansuvadha, PhD, (Educational Psychology, Administration and Counseling) as well as Science Education graduate students.