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news:
Graduates complete
the walk
By Gabriel Lefrancois
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
The 52nd annual
Cal State Long Beach Commencement ceremonies began with handfuls
of confetti being tossed at graduates and loud cheers in the
Central Quadrangle last Wednesday. More than 4,000 students
walked across the stage at Cal State Long Beach.
 President
Robert Maxson made reference to the190,000 passed CSULB graduates
as bachelor's and master's degrees were awarded over a three-day
period. The graduation included nine separate ceremonies,
and 4,844 students crossed the stage, according to Sharon
Olson, commencement coordinator. The number of participating
students is up from last year, which saw 4,708 walk.
"There is
no day more special than this," Maxson said, as he addressed
the more than 57,000 combined friends and families who attended
the separate ceremonies. "These degrees not only belong
to you [the students], but to the families. You have all earned
these prestigious degrees."
 Students
who participated in the ceremony communicated to family and
friends via cell phones as the sun beat down upon their black
mortarboards, while the occasional beach ball was batted around.
The Commencement was telecast on the Internet for the first
time, which Olson said went over well.
"I thought
the Web telecast was the best feature of the ceremonies,"
Olson said. "We had about 2,000 hits over the three-day
period, which included places like Spain, Germany and Australia.
It was great for the families that could not be here."
Students taking
part had smiles from ear to ear as their names were read.
Sean Gordon, an accountancy major who received a bachelor's
degree, was one of those students who had been waiting for
this moment since middle school.
 "I
knew I was going to attend college ever since my eighth grade
year when I worked at a shipping plant," Gordon said.
"I remember the accountant walking through the building
and everyone had to answer to him. That's when I knew college
would be the most important for me to excel and become what
I want to be."
For students such
as Gordon, families played a major role in getting them where
they are today. Gordon said that if not for his family's overwhelming
support and financial help, he believes that he would not
have been able to get as far as he did.
"Many of our
graduating students are first generation college members,"
Olson said. "We know the families are important to the
students and that's why we have the ceremony in the quad.
No tickets are required, which allows us to fit a lot of friends
and families of the graduates into the area. I spend a lot
of time with the families who come and it's great to see how
excited they get."
 The
excitement turned to anticipation on Thursday, during the
College of Liberal Arts' second ceremony. Attendees of the
graduation reported a theft by using their cell phones, allowing
University Police to saturate the area of the reported direction
of the suspects, according to Capt. Stan Skipworth of the
University Police. Skipworth said that they were fortunate
to have enough officers on duty to apprehend the suspects
quickly and without problems. Although he could not give exact
details, Skipworth said that one suspect confessed. The juvenile
and adult suspects will meet with a district attorney next
week.
President Maxson
ended the ceremony for 2001 on Friday telling the students
to give back to the university to make sure the next generation
has the same opportunities that they had.
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