Disabled Student Services, located in Brotman Hall Room 270, offers students support services for in-classroom activities, career development resources, use of and training on adaptive computer equipment and access devices, disability-related counseling, and academic advisement. Its mission is “to assist students with disabilities as they secure their university degrees at California State University, Long Beach.” Deaf and hard of hearing students can be provided sign language interpreters, real-time captioners (RTC), note-taking services and a parking permit for priority parking spaces. At the High Tech Center, students can receive assistance in editing written assignments for course work, and assistance in the use of production software applications. The Center also offers test accommodations for WPE, ELM/EPT examinations completed with the use of a computer, and print media converted to an alternative e-text format, audio media, or literary Braille. The Stephen Benson Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (SBP) serves the needs of CSULB students who have a diagnosed learning disability. The program provides counseling for clarification of issues related to learning disabilities, makes recommendations for accommodations, and fosters self-advocacy in students. General services for all students with disabilities include academic advising, tutoring, disability parking, campus and agency liaison, test taking services and accommodations, note taking, reader services, registration assistance, priority registration, scholarship applications, admission advising, research assistants, financial aid advising, and disability management. For more information, visit the Disabled Student Services website.
Construction continues this month on Brooks College, where CSULB plans to create a new Residential Learning College. Almost 200 students already live on Brooks College property, but once construction is completed, 550 students, 12 resident assistants and 4 faculty members will be able to stay there. According to President Alexander, the purpose of this project is to “alleviate the demand for on-campus housing, and decrease the number of students that are left to sit on wait lists.” The Residential Learning College should be operational by fall 2009. There have been some concerns raised about taking on construction projects at such a sensitive economic time, but many CSULB projects, including the one at Brooks College, are not state funded. Instead, the Residential Learning College is supported by room and board fees. Another CSULB project that has not been deterred is the new Student Wellness and Recreation Center, since support comes directly from student fees. The new Hall of Science project, however, is funded by the state, and has been on hold since January. Luckily, without any further delays, the projected date of completion shouldn’t be too far off from the previously estimated March of 2011. For more information and the entire article, visit the Beachcomber website.
For the fourth straight year, a group of CSULB students, staff and faculty gave up their spring break to work long hours, sleep in crowded conditions and take only cold showers. They also helped change lives. Instead of relaxing at the beach or catching up with friends, 35 members of the CSULB community traveled to New Orleans and swung a hammer for a worthy cause. Working with Habitat for Humanity, the Alternative Spring Break students spent a week rebuilding houses that were destroyed by the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Beyond working eight-hour days in the Musicians Village area of New Orleans, several students also helped at the Habitat ReStore Store, which provides quality, used and surplus building materials at a fraction of the original price. When they weren’t busy building houses for hurricane victims, the group stayed at Camp Hope, a converted school used by Habitat for Humanity as basic housing for volunteers in St. Bernard. Camp Hope provides basic amenities and three meals a day, but still isn’t the Hilton. The students who participated in Alternative Spring Break also enrolled in POSC 493: “Politics, Culture and Disaster,” taught by Liberal Studies Professor Dan O’Connor. The semester-long course studies the events leading up to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, as well as looking at current effects on both the Gulf Coast region and the entire country. For the entire article, visit This Week @The Beach.
On Saturday, April 25th, CSULB hosted its 24th Annual Kaleidoscope Festival. The day was full of fun and frivolity, with more than 120 student clubs and vendor booths participating. Thirty-thousand participants enjoyed events including four stages with live entertainment, Engineering Day, the ASI Fun Zone, sports clinics, Greek Row, Children’s Day and a medieval village named the Anachronistic Society. This year also marked the return of the Push Cart Grand Prix, sponsored by the Division of Student Services, Red Bull Soapbox Derby and Frog’s Fitness at CSULB. Participants competed for fastest time, best theme, and best team spirit. For more information, visit the Kaleidoscope website.
ASI Student Government elections were held from April 13-15, with a special run-off election held from April 21–23. After a competitive race, Chris Chavez (current ASI Vice President) was elected President, beating fellow candidate Avis Atkins (current ASI senator, College of Liberal Arts) by 28 votes. Omar Gonzalez won a more decisive victory over his opponents for the position of Vice President, by winning 58% of the vote in the general election. The competition for ASI Treasurer was also fierce, but Marilei Denali was the clear winner of the run-off election with 61% of the vote. All three newly elected officials are eager to begin their terms, and look forward to effecting positive change in the CSULB community. For more information, visit the Daily 49er website.
A recent article in USA Today reports a jump in the number of undergraduate computer science majors. New enrollment in North American computer science and engineering programs increased by 8%, the first increase since 2002. One of the factors responsible for this growth may be the prevalence of popular technologies like Web 2.0, iPhone, Facebook and YouTube. Another possibility is a larger number of students switching majors from business and finance. This trend toward computer technologies comes at a perfect time, as concern has been growing within the tech industry that the U.S. does not graduate enough computer-science students. IBM and other major companies are sure to be particularly grateful, since there have been many instances where they could not fill enterprising-computing jobs due to the lack of qualified college graduates. For more information and the entire article, visit the USA Today website.
In 49er sports, the Dirtbags (Men’s Baseball team) host seven games at Blair Field on May 1, 2, 3, 5, 15, 16 and 17 For more information, visit the Long Beach State 49er website.
The Commencement Ceremonies at CSULB are a joyous event for students, parents, faculty, staff and administrators. Although tickets are not required, guest seating is limited and available on a first come, first serve basis. Guests are recommended to arrive at least one hour prior to the ceremony, allowing for a twenty-minute walk from the parking area to the Central Quad, on upper campus. The ceremony lasts for about two hours with outdoor seating so guests are advised to dress appropriately. The University also hosts an optional hour-long reception immediately following the ceremony on the Terrace Level of the University Student Union. Refreshments and music will be provided at the reception. Parking is free in all of the student lots, and two shuttle services are available for guests parking on the North and East side of campus. For more information including the schedule of ceremonies, visit the Commencement 2009 website.
For more information about these and other campus events, please visit the CSULB Calendar of Events.
Newsletter by Valerie Kelsey & Drew Dillon Edited by Dr. Jeane Caveness
