Notes and Thoughts -- 9/11-9/14 tour of Northern California

Though the past few days have indeed been rather exhausting, the conferences and tours that I was able to take part in have been more than worth the effort. For instance, even to able to tour the Sacramento & San Francisco CSU campuses has given me a wealth of ideas of possible projects to pursue here at CSULA. Who would have thought that attaining student ownership of popular campus vending sites would be so simple? Or even having free such a thing as 'free speech zone' for protests and student demonstrations? I am just surprised that many things that are being done throughout the state have not been brought up here on our own campus...

Besides the beautiful scenery and welcoming faces that I saw up on our northern side, there was the issue of attending the two conferences to which I was invited to. At the conference pertaining to the issue of higher education, I witnessed a great deal of enthusiasm on the part of students in attendance. The atmosphere was full of energy and an almost tangible hunger to create change. And of course, the presentations that were made regarding environmental sustainability, currently proposed litigation affecting college bound and currently attending students (regardless of legal status), and the still present issue of the financial cuts being made to education.

In Sacramento, there was also a lot of excitement at the team building and leadership conference. After having several workshops about strategic planning and delegation of tasks to increase the overall efficiency of an organization as well as a short overview of parliamentary procedure, I had the opportunity to give a short speech regarding the issues we are currently facing at CSULA. While the majority of attendees were from the UC system, I was surprised to see some familiar faces from other CSU campuses. 

To give you all an idea of how much of an eye-opener these conferences were, let me share with you the ideas that I came across and will likely try to implement this year....

• to initiate a campus wide green policy to further attain goals in environmental sustainability
• increasing the rate of success in mobilizing the CSULA student body in demonstrations of student unity in the face of adversity
• pushing for more accountability and better representation from our own representatives at the University level so as to increase the efficiency of our student government
• pursuing the overall emphasis of our campus (whether it be from an academic, professional, or athletic standpoint) and to capitalize upon it for the marketing of our target audience in the recruitment and retainment of students
• to further educate our student body regarding shared governance and to advocate in favor of student participation at the University, local, state, and national arenas
• activation of a long term strategic plan for the University with student input
• maintenance of a meaningful lobby corps presence on the behalf of CSULA
• to create an atmosphere of campus pride at our University

Fall 2008 Schedule

Well, I've finally finished registering for classes and have prepared my schedule for the Fall quarter. So far, this is what it looks like...

Econ 209: Applied Economics and Business Statistics

Mondays & Wednesdays 9:50-11:30 AM

Music 160: Music Fundamentals

Mondays & Wednesdays 11:40AM-1:20PM

Econ 202: Principles of Economics II: Macroeconomics

Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:50-11:30 AM

Hist 202A: US Civilization

Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:40 AM-1:20 PM

Comm 377: Advanced Forensics

TBA

All in all, 18 units... not too shabby!

When the time comes...

It is that time again... the time in the morning when insomnia hits and you cannot find sleep, no matter how many cups of tea you drink, nor how many poems you might read. While in this process, however, I came across a very remarkable poem with an enlightening message. The title of the poem itself Si me muero antes que tu (If I die before you) may sound a bit morbid, but the last stanza in particular gives a very special definition as to what life really is about. It encourages us to live life to the fullest and as if each moment could be our last... because, after all, it might very well be so. I will try my best to provide a translation of the stanza of which I speak

Where ever I may be and if you wish to write something of me...
Hopefully, you can say it all in just one simple phrase,
"He was my everything, he believed in me, and I loved him"
Then... then shed your tears
I may not be present catch your tears as they fall, but no matter
Hopefully someone will be there to do so in my place
And seeing myself well substituted, I shall attend my new duties in Heaven
But once in a while, I will escape even the attentions of the Lord
And though you may not see me, I will be there watching happily
Watching over you

Do you believe in these things?
Then pray that we both live like two people who know that one day their time will come
And that we may die like two people who knew how to live well
And if I were to die first, I don't believe that I will see anything new
Because, after all...
Having you at my side was like having a piece of heaven here on earth.

Translated & adapted from Mariano Osorio's Si me muero antes que tu

CSULA: Key Issues & Concerns

In the past few days upon my return to LA, I have been meeting with several student leaders to discuss issues that are relevant to the CSULA community. While it has been quite a break from my recent trekking through the Burmese wilderness, it has still brought to my attention that most students are concerned about the state of the University. To illustrate this point, I will share a few of those with you here.

CSULA has a reputation as a second tier university

● CSULA has outstanding programs and professors, not to mention extremely prominent alumni.
● However, this has not promoted the way it should be, nor have we seen a visible effort to do so
● The excuse is that CSULA has too much of a commuter campus mentality
● The manner to rectify this is to increase student ownership of the University

• Some of the people I have met have even come up with some pretty catchy slogans for campaign work... here are two of my favorites
  

Your University... Your CSULA

Los Angeles’ University... CSULA

CSULA Campus Pride

● There is a generally apathy to our campus and a lack of school spirit
*Hardly anyone can be seen sporting CSULA gear outside of the University and even our own athletics programs see infrequent attendance
● Again, the solution is student ownership
*The more involved and invested students are, the more they feel that they have a say in what goes on and the more they will be willing to participate in our campus events

Advocacy and Outreach

● A.S.I. should be passing frequent resolutions in favor of relevant litigation
*This would be the secondary responsibility of the Judicial Review Committee J.R.C. and give them more of a legitimate responsibility
● I'm Going to College! (I.G.T.C.) outreach events in collaboration with the Alumni Center, E.O.P. and the Outreach programs on campus
Mobilization of the Student Body at CSULA
● There should be a visible effort from our student government to help vocalize the voice of the students at CSULA by helping in the formation of a considerable Lobby Corps and voter's coalition here on our campus.

Providing a venue for community events and carnivals
● California Academic Decathlon
● Athletic Competitions
● Concerts & Open Hall Venues
● Festivals and Carnivals

The shocking thing is that most of these key concerns can be easily dealt with. However, if things are not getting done in the fashion that is needed by those who represent you, then there is another alternative route... to create the change yourself! I am slowly getting the feeling that I will be working on these campaigns throughout the year and can't wait to see the campus mobilize itself and see people like yourselves in the forefront.

The time is NOW!

Itinerary for 9/12 - 9/14

September 11th

• Student Alumni Asssociation TV Taping Fundraiser
• Special Event - Samantha (younger sister) turns 5!
• Board Flight to San Francisco

September 12th

• Low profile tour of San Francisco State University
  
• Higher Education Conference in Oakland

September 13th

• Low profile tour of Sacramento State University
• Meet and Greet at the State Capitol
• Leadership Conference in Downtown Sacramento

September 14th

• Personal visit to Santa Cruz
• Tour of UC Santa Cruz
• Flight back to LA in the evening
• Cheescake Factory???
  

Bringing the Academic Decathlon to CSULA

This year, one of my main projects will be to bring the LAUSD Academic Decathlon to CSULA. For information as to what the Academic Decathlon is, please visit http://www.academicdecathlon.org/news.htm Historically, the decathlon has been split into two portions, the first being hosted at Bravo Medical Magnet and the second at UCLA. However, my plan is to bring the decathlon from UCLA to our very own campus here at CSULA.

By changing the venue from UCLA to CSULA, I aim to accomplish the following:

I am hoping to show these inner city students that there is an option outside of the military and the community college system... that is the California State University. As a student leader here at CSULA, of course, I would love to host the decathlon for a myriad of personal reasons, but it does not take away from the benefits that would be brought forth by having the decathlon at a state school. And seeing that over 71% of our students are able to receive some form of financial aid, CSULA is rapidly becoming an increasingly attractive choice as a University, as is evident by a historic high number of applications this year alone.

I also wish to follow my mission statement of bringing media attention and making the name CSULA a recognized and, indeed, bringing the academic decathlon can do that for any campus at which the competition is to take place.

As to the question of whether or not CSULA can host an event of this magnitude, take into consideration the fact that CSULA was also a venue for the 1984 Summer Olympics. This, added to the fact that the new University-Student Union has been built on our campus has the potential of making CSULA an extremely competitive bidder in the search for a new venue for this competition. 

Give me your thoughts, questions, and concerns!!!!