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news
Former A.S.I.
president remembered
By Jamie Rogers
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Christina M. Speaker,
former Associated Students Inc. president of Cal State Long
Beach, died Tuesday, July 31 at Loma Linda University Medical
Center.
Speaker, 33, graduated
from CSULB in 1992 after she served as A.S.I president and
vice president and was a representative to the Academic Senate
and the Dean's Committee. Friends and associates said her
contribution to the community will be sorely missed.
"When I think
of Christina, the first thing I think of is this big halo
of blond hair and never ending energy and laughter,"
Rosemary Taylor Schmidt, retired assistant vice president
for student services said. "She was such a joyful person.
Then I think of her contribution to student government and
how thoughtful she was, how concerned she was of doing the
right thing."
Her years associated
with A.S.I and with Delta Delta Delta, the sorority that she
was president of, are remembered as years of integrity, with
an office that was greatly concerned for the student body.
"She wasn't
afraid to do her homework," Schmidt said. "She would
investigate to find what was best for the students.
Wayne Stickney-Smith,
residing A.S.I president, said that although he did not know
Speaker, he was saddened by the loss of a fellow officer.
"I heard she
was a very effective president," he said. "A lot
of people liked her. From a personal standpoint, I was very
sad to hear a former A.S.I president passed. Knowing the duties
that we do, we had a tie there."
Speaker was well
known for the hard work she put into the A.S.I. office and
for her outgoing, cheerful personality.
"Her personality
flavored her years on student government," Schmidt said.
"I think of those year as bright and cheery because she
was there."
After Speaker received
her degree in political science from CSULB, she continued
to work for students when she accepted a job as the director
of collective bargaining for the Cal State University system.
Recently she began
working as a regional marketing executive for the Oriental
Overseas Container Line. She also volunteered her time three
days a week at Crestmore Elementary School where she assisted
with special education children.
Speaker suffered
through six years of an untraceable seizure disorder related
to encephalitis. She succumbed Tuesday to injuries sustained
after a fall.
A memorial service
will take place in Redlands, where she spent most of her childhood.
The "Celebration of Christina's Life" will be held
at noon on Saturday at the Redlands' Trinity Church.
A scholarship fund
has been created in remembrance of Speaker. The $500 award
will be presented annually to a female student who served
on ASI and represented the student body with her best effort.
Those who wish to contribute to the fund may contact CSULB.
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