Posted on Nov 16, 2007

Division of Student Affairs launches First-Year Call Center
The Vice President's Office of Student Affairs has implemented the First-Year Call Center. The Call Center provides another way to reach out to first-year students and inform them of campus information, advising and registration deadlines, discuss their overall satisfaction, educate them about how to get involved, as well as answering any questions or concerns. "Our goal is to call each student twice during their first year; collecting this information will lend insight into increasing our institutional effectiveness," says Sue Borrego, vice president for student affairs.

Coordinated by staff member Rachelle Bass, the Call Center is located in the Student Services Building (47). A student team has been trained and will contact each new freshman and transfer student. The information collected from these calls will be evaluated to determine any themes and inform programs geared toward increasing students' success. First-Year Call Center team members are Maria Ceja, Louie Okamoto, Isabel Lopez, Yandara Rodriguez-Jacob, Marianne Roush, and Zachary Kasow. For any questions concerning the Call Center, please contact Rachelle at 582-4160 or via e-mail.

Inter-Garrison Road closes for construction work
Underground hot water lines continue to be installed to distribute heat to campus buildings. When the work is finished, dozens of old boilers will be replaced by two new ones located in the Central Plant that is currently under construction next to the VPA buildings. This will result in energy savings for the campus. The installation work along Divarty Street has been completed and the street is now open. Work crews have moved to Inter-Garrison Road, starting at the intersection with Fifth Avenue. The work will result in Inter-Garrison being closed from Fifth Avenue to the north entrance of Parking Lot 12. Work will continue west on Inter-Garrison to Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard. Please follow the signs and look for updates as the work progresses.

CSUMB librarian honored for international contributions
Steven Watkins, one of CSUMB's founding librarians, was awarded the first ever lifetime membership by a marine science library association for his contributions throughout the years. The International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers' executive board created the award specifically to honor Steve for his many years of service to the organization. Steve is currently the coordinator of technology development at CSUMB's library. He joined the faculty in 1995 and is a past chair of the CSUMB Academic Senate. He is a frequent presenter on technolgy-enabled library services and a longtime contributor to collaborative library programs in the Monterey Bay region. He holds a master of library science degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Stanford University. To read more, click here.

TAT students honored at CSU Media Arts Festival
 Igor Borovac and Megan Comstock were honored at the recent CSU Media Arts Festival held at CSU Channel Islands. During the festival, students also had the opportunity to attend seminars hosted by top entertainment industry professionals including writer and director Peter Tolan, whose credits include Just Like Heaven and Analyze This, and Thomas Mignone, music video director for bands including System of a Down and Megadeth. In the awards competition, more than 230 pieces were submitted by students in a variety of categories from 15 CSU campuses. Borovac, director of Turn Back South, and Comstock, who produced the film, took third place in the documentary category.

Flu shots available on campus
The Campus Health Center is offering flu shots to the campus community and general public for $25. Call 582-3965, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to schedule an appointment. Insurance cannot be billed. Payment must be made in cash, check, credit card or money order at the time of service.

Truths worth telling
Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg visits campus Nov. 28
The President's Speakers Series concludes this semester's presentations with a Nov. 28 visit by Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, the RANDCorp. analyst who, in 1971, leaked the classified Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. The documents revealed the U.S. government had engaged in a pattern of deceiving the public about the number of Vietnam War casualties and the nation's ability to win the war. And they instantly validated the antiwar protest movement. He'll be talking about his book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers," copies of which will be available for sale. To reserve a seat for the free event, click here. To read more about Dr. Ellsberg, click here.

Txt Msgs Alert U
Cell phones transmit safety alerts at CSUMB

Cell phones - a convenient way to send greetings to friends and family via text messages - have been transformed into campus communications vehicles. At CSUMB, the service is called - what else? - OTTERalert. They blast out campus-wide security and emergency communication alarms - a service that has been getting a lot of attention since the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech.
The campus community can rest assured that OTTERalert is for emergency alerts only; those who sign up will not receive spam. Privacy is protected, and only campus administrators and members of the University Police Department can originate the messages. To read more, click here.

Wedneday, Nov. 14: "Faces of Homelessness," panel discussion featuring members of the Soledad Street community and service providers, 7-9 p.m., University Center living room.
Wednesday, Nov. 14: All Dead Turkeys Go to Heaven, a performance by CSUMB's improv comedy troupe, free, 8 pm., Meeting House
Thursday, Nov. 15: Warren Miller's Playground, 7 p.m., World Theater
Thursday, Nov. 15: Shantytown monologue performance on the main quad starting at 8 p.m. Part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

Upcoming
Sunday, Dec. 2
: Winter Concert put on by the Music and Performing Arts Department, free, 3-5 p.m., World Theater
Saturday, Dec. 8: Volunteers are needed to plant natives in Natividad Creek Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Information: watershed.csumb.edu/ron

ONGOING
Through Nov. 26
: Works by students in VPA 347 Chicana/o Black Art taught by Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains and Professor Stephanie A. Johnson is ondisplay in the library. Based on the Spanish Castas paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries which categorized the mestizaje or "mixed race" people into socially stratified positions, the students' "remix" focuses upon narratives of familial legacy, ancestral exploration, and personal cross-cultural negotiation. Using the original paintings as a background with strategic alteration and addition of elements, these modern pieces counter the divisions, legal inequities, and fears promoted by the historical Castas paintings. The students developed their own narratives and reflections of hope in the new Castas images.

Students benefit from real-world experience
At CSUMB, much of the learning takes place in the real world. The university partners with organizations that provide students the opportunity to use the skills they've acquired in the classroom, make professional connections and build an impressive resume. One of those organizations is the Defense Manpower Data Center. DMDC and CSUMB have worked together since 1996, providing real-world opportunities for students.

The two organizations recently signed an agreement to continue working together. "This is a very exciting event for me, our campus, and most of all, our students," President Dianne F. Harrison said at the signing ceremony. "I talk about this To rread moreprogram a lot when I talk about partnerships and hands-on experiences for students." To read more, click here.

A reminder: Fourth Avenue (the street behind the Alumni and Visitors Center) between Divarty Street and Inter-Garrison Road is ONE WAY southbound. There are no plans to make the street two-way, even during the construction work in the area. It's a safety issue - the street is too narrow to safely accommodate two-way traffic and parking.

Divarty Street is now open.

Inter-Garrison Road is closed from Sixth Avenue to the north entrance of parking lot 12. Fifth Avenue will be closed from Inter-Garrison to the entrance to parking lot 12. The VPA buildings are accessible via parking lot 71. Parking lot 12 is accessible from A Street and Divarty Street.

Our campus is under construction. Please be cautious around construction areas. We invite you to view this short slide show created with yoursafety in mind.

CSUMB heads to Santa Clara
It may have been eight months ago, but the time between the end of last season and the beginning of this one sure has seemed like an eternity for CSU-Monterey Bay men's basketball coach Pat Kosta. "We're finally about to compete in a real game," said Kosta, who is in his second year at the helm. . . "We're ready to play."
- Monterey Herald, Nov. 9, 2007

'The Good Woman' a gutsy undertaking for CSUMB
It's a gutsy undertaking to stage Bertolt Brecht's "The Good Woman of Setzuan" as the inaugural theater offering for CSU-Monterey Bay's new Music and Performing Arts Department. . ."The Good Woman" is free of charge, a gift to the public from this new theater. (Professor Will) Shephard hs created an intriguing theater experience in the old church. See for yourself.
- Monterey Herald, Nov. 8, 2007

Final two days to visit CSUMB exhibitions
There's just time to catch Guardians and Walking Through, two exhibitions of works by students at CSUMB. These exhibits provide a propitious glimpse of what is being created by the community's emerging artists. . . . These exhibitions were curated by students of CSUMB's museum studies program . . .
- Monterey County Weekly, Nov. 8, 2007

Film explores transformation of Inland area
There's a rare chance today to see Enid Baxter Blader's "Local 909er," an experimental documentary that explores the rapid transformation of the Inland region from orchards and dairy farms to box stores and McMansions. . . Blader, assistant professor of digital cinema at Cal State Monterey Bay whose artworks have been shown at MOCA and the Smithsonian, is a filmmaker, painter, bluegrass singer and new mother with a family emergency that will keep her from attending. The theme came to Blader when she was living in Upland a few years ago and noticed the disparity between the historic downtown and the hoopla surrounding new developments. She began to wonder about the loss of identity of place.
- Riverside Press-Enterprise, Nov. 7, 2007

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