Carpenters, student elections, changes in enrollment policy

Cal State Long Beach alumni Richard and Karen Carpenter have been cited as key influences by such artists as Madonna, Shania Twain, Luther Vandross and k.d. Lang. The Carpenters were the recipients of 11 gold albums and 10 gold singles before Karen died tragically at 32 years old.

Richard Carpenter's performance at Sunday night's exhibit and dedication was well attended by the community.

Student elections are coming up this week. I urge you to get involved and vote. This is an election where you cannot go wrong. I know all the students who are running for office, and they are all immensely talented and enthusiastic candidates with strong leadership skills who are dedicated to serving you in student government.

Over the past six months, I served on a systemwide committee that included students, presidents, faculty and staff. We developed a new enrollment management policy for the California State University system that becomes effective for impacted campuses as early as the fall of 2001. The new policy will give priority to local students.

Students who meet the CSU entrance requirements will now be guaranteed a space at their local campus. This means that if a local student and a student from outside the area apply to Long Beach State, and the university is limiting enrollment because of crowding, the local student will win the seat, even if the other student has a better GPA.

Although this new policy has been designed with flexibility in mind, it will have a tremendous impact at CSULB since we are one of the most popular CSU campuses in California.

Freshman and upperdivision transfer student applications continue to soar at many CSU campuses, which may prompt campuses to raise requirements for students who do not live in their area.

The decision to do so will be left to the CSU system office and each university.

Go BEACH!