WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1999

CSULB student Oxford bound

By Sharon Christensen

On-Line Forty-Niner

While most students don't even see a book during the summer, Cal State Long Beach student Kathryn Gainey will be spending the first weeks of her summer reading preparing for a three-week class at England's prestigious Oxford University.

"We're responsible for completing our reading before the class," said Gainey, a President's Scholar and junior majoring in philosophy and economics. "From May 25 up until June 24, the day before I leave, that's what I'll be doing."

Gainey, who has been at CSULB for three years, is making her first trip to Europe as part of UC Berkeley's 30th Annual Travel with Scholars program.

"It just blows my mind," Gainey said.

The class, Law and Society: Justice in England and America, is one of 21 courses offered by UC Berkeley Extension for the two summer sessions and begins June 28. Gainey must provide her own funding to pay the $3500 program fee.

CSULB President Robert Maxson could not have asked for a better booster abroad than Gainey.

"I have a closet full of Long Beach paraphernalia," said Gainey, who admits she will probably be wearing her CSULB sweatshirt when her plane lands in England.

"I really love this school," she said. "I firmly believe that things happen here. Just for Long Beach to be represented in a program like this can attest to the quality of students we have on this campus."

The Oxford traditions are going to be a shock, Gainey said.

"It's going to be very different," she said, explaining the university's dining rituals. "They are very steeped in tradition."

Gainey, whose long-term interest is environmental law, was born in Fontana and moved with her family to the High Desert city of Palmdale in third grade. Paraclete High School, a catholic school in Palmdale, had a total of 700 students enrolled.

"People in Long Beach don't even know where Palmdale is," she said.

Gainey was involved in mock trial teams and environmental clubs in high school, and last summer had an internship at the Long Beach Superior Court through CSULB's political science department.

Gainey's mother suggested the program after seeing an advertisement in National Geographic Traveler Magazine. Shortly after filling out the program's short application, Gainey booked and paid for her flight through CSULB's Campus Travel.

Right now, Gainey works for the University Outreach and School Relations, giving campus tours and recruiting. Gainey even recruited her younger sister, a freshman in health science, and her cousin, a freshman photojournalism major, to CSULB.