Forum gives students a boost The annual forum highlighted resources for underprivileged
WEDNESDAY April 18, 2012 Volume 97, Issue 106 W W W.T H E D A I LYA Z T E C . C O M
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Antonio Zaragoza photo editor San Diego State hosted the 22nd annual Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education on Saturday. More than 1,200 students traveled from across the state to attend the event, many arriving on buses after traveling the long distance from Northern California. According to the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education website, the forum began in 1991 and is designed to educate and help minority and low-income students in furthering their education beyond the bachelor’s degree. The ultimate goal is to have more minority, especially Latino and African-American students, achieve doctorates and ultimately have more diverse college faculties which better represent the diverse communities that encompass most universities. The students began the day with a plenary session held in the Open Air Theatre and were welcomed by the SDSU pep band. Guest speakers included SDSU’s new Vice President of Research and Dean of the Graduate Division Stephen Welter, President Elliot Hirshman, Chief Diversity Officer Aaron Bruce and Education Opportunity Program Director Reginald Blaylock, who gave the keynote address. “You were selected and this is the only kind of fair in the nation. This is the only time in America that we do something like this. There are over 200 universities waiting to meet you, greet you and tell you they want you,” Blaylock said. The emotionally charged and inspirational nature of Blaylock’s speech set the festive tone of the event as students battled the briefly windy and rainy weather.
OPINION
There must be repercussions for coaches who break contract. Members of President Elliot Hirshman’s office, including the president , spoke at the forum on Saturday. | PETER KLUCH, SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
“You were selected and this is the only kind of fair in the nation ... the only time in America that we do something like this.” Reginald Blaylock, Education Opportunity Program Director Following the plenary session, students made their way to various classrooms and lecture halls in order to attend the various workshops and lectures. The workshops, which included
information on financial aid, furthering education and taking essential exams such as the Graduate Record Examination, were designed to give potential graduate students vital infor-
mation regarding post-graduate education. At noon, the students ate lunch and were then able to visit more than 200 different university representatives stationed along Campanile Walkway. “I came to figure out how to fund grad school and get information I need to start the process and seeing what programs are best,” Mathew Zemaneke, a student from California State University San Bernardino, said. “I’ve received a lot of great information and I’m very pleased with everyone I’ve met so far.” Following the lunch, students continued to attend additional workshops and lectures. The day-long event is hosted in different locations annually.
E N T E R TA I N M E N T Revitalize independent record stores while enjoying live sets.
SDSU community asks for a voice Students and parents called for open forum with Hirshman Ana Ceballos senior staff writer An open presentation for students to pose questions to university administrators about concerns regarding the current budget challenges was announced last Tuesday in an email to San Diego State students. This email was in part sent as a response to a letter from studentactivist organization Reclaim SDSU to arrange an open forum solely devoted to questions and concerns of students, faculty, staff and parents. The intent of Reclaim SDSU’s letter was to create an event for the campus community, instead of a lecture to select individuals by the administration, according to the organization. “We just want to make sure the issues we are most concerned about are focused on,” Reclaim SDSU member Matt Blythe said. “We don’t want our questions to be pre-
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screened and not represent the actual concerns of the community.” Before the open presentation for Associated Students was announced, the administration had sent Reclaim SDSU an email stating it would send a formal response with the time and location for the open forum. Yet, the formal response had the open presentation specifics enclosed, rather than those of the open forum. While the subjects of the open presentation will pertain to the university’s budgeting process and fiscal outlook, student questions can be incorporated into the presentation if submitted no later than Friday. Some students felt this was a positive move on the part of the administration. “I think it’s a good, different idea that AS is reaching out to the students not only to inform them as to the reasons behind the budget reduction, but also to see what our questions are as a student population,” theatre arts junior Liliana Silva said. “I hope the student body takes advantage of the opportunity to educate themselves since no one likes the idea of budget cuts. If we motivate ourselves to understand more about the fiscal state of the university and involve ourselves, we can come up with a
stronger solution as students.” According to a few members of Reclaim SDSU, an hour and a half is not much time to address students’ concerns, and devoting only a portion of that time to students’ questions is insufficient. “We are disappointed that the new president of SDSU has chosen to give a lip service to our calls for a transparent dialogue, instead of honest and horizontal engagement of the SDSU community,” Blythe said. “We asked for faculty, staff, parents and students to be involved and invited,” Reclaim SDSU member Elena Horvitz said. “We want everyone that is affected to be involved, so an open forum with only students would be unacceptable.” Nevertheless, when 25 students were asked whether or not they had received the email, only eight confirmed to have received it. “We want the format of the presentation to be more democratic and not some sort of dictatorship,” political science graduate student Amir Shoja said. Parents are also welcome to attend the open presentation. The announcement was sent to registered emails in enrollment services. According to Shoja,
“Communication efforts have not been very quick or successful,” which is why he said the deadline for questions will be extended to next Friday. Faculty members were not officially invited to the student budget open presentation because three sessions were held for budget faculty presentations last week. According to the university administration, the reason the open forum was replaced by an open presentation was that the administration believes it would be more productive and more organized. “If we receive the questions in advance, we can be more productive during the presentation,” chief of staff Andrea Rollins said. “If we get organized more information can be shared and there can be a better flow and logic to the information.” “I would like to be involved in an open forum,” SDSU parent Jeff Horvitz said. “I would think most students are working as a team with parents to complete their college education, so parents should be involved.” The presentation will be moderated by A.S. president and vice president, Cody Barbo and Krista Parker, and will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 3 in Arts and Letters 201.
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But the half-life theory, it says because Glen and I have been together for two years, I’ll have to be alone for one after we break up. B A C K PA G E
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