L.B.
community, campus unite
By Maritza Diaz
On-line Forty-Niner
What
one event has the power to draw thousands
of people to Cal State Long Beach? That
would be the annual Kaleidoscope, which
will take place this weekend, and bring
people from the Long Beach community together.
Kaleidoscope is a huge open house and festival
that showcases the departments’ organizations
and student groups on campus. The event
also focuses on bringing together components
of the community such as businesses that
are connected with the campus, said Zanaida
Stewart, Kaleidoscope coordinator.
“It’s a party for the whole city. People
really look forward to this event every
year,” Stewart said.
The goal of the event, which began in 1985,
is to get people to come and know about
CSULB and get students to know what the
campus can do.
“This is Long Beach’s university, and this
event is to show them our brilliance,” Stewart
said. “It’s an opportunity for people to
do fundraising and entertainment and its
just a day of fun.”
Stewart also said that this event is an
opportunity for small businesses around
the city to come and sell their products.
Danny Vivian, Associated Students Inc. president,
feels that this event is very important
in bringing people from Long Beach to experience
CSULB.
“It’s a good showcase for the university
to [let people] enjoy the educational environment,”
Vivian said, “And it’s a good place to experience
diversity.”
A.S.I. hosts the Kaleido-carnival, which
allows organizations on campus to set up
booths and games for children to play, according
to Vivian.
“This is also a good place to go to if you
like to eat. There is food from all over,”
Vivian said.
The food will include dishes from Armenia,
Turkey and other international foods.
Aside from the access to worldwide foods
and games, the Kaleidoscope will also focus
on health and the safety of children, said
Stewart.
“We really keep it catered to families and
kids. It is a really clean and smooth event,”
Stewart said. “People feel welcome and not
threatened in any way.”
The community response to this event has
been positive. However, although the event
draws thousands of people, not many of them
are students, said Stewart.
“Many students on campus don’t know that
this is going on. And this event is as much
for the students of CSULB as it is for the
community,” Stewart said.
There have been no major problems in organizing
Kaleidoscope, except for situations that
can arise when planning any large event,
according to Stewart.
“This event tends to sneak up on people,”
Stewart said. “People tend to wait to the
last minuet [to sign up]. But everything
turns out fine; people want this event.”
There will be 150 vendors and organization
set up for Kaleidoscope, according to Stewart.
“Other campuses have similar events, but
ours is the best,” said Stewart.
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