N.Y. MOSQUE
UNBEATEN AZTECS
RENTING BOOKS
Is building the mosque at ground zero insulting to 9/11
San Diego State won its first football game of the season page 4 on Saturday.
Different ways to save money on class supplies.
dailyaztec victims’ families?
the
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Vol. 96, Issue 6
San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1913
w w w. T h e D a i l y A z t e c . c o m
INDEX:
opinion ... 2
sports ... 4
page 2
page 6
TODAY @ STATE Sport club teams recruitment fair, 10 a.m. at Aztec Center “Mark Twain: An American Original”
Tw i t t e r : T h e D a i l y A z t e c
science & technology ... 6
classifieds ... 7
backpage ... 8
SDSU commended for LGBT efforts
David J. Olender / Photo Editor
The non-profit organization, Campus Pride, increased SDSU’s rating for LGBT support because of added programs such as the LGBT minor and Safe Zones, which offers allies who welcome and support LGBT students.
The university was awarded five stars from Campus Pride HUTTON MARSHALL CONTRIBUTOR
This summer, Campus Pride honored San Diego State by making it one of only 20 schools in the nation to receive a five-star rating in its support and acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. This puts SDSU in the company of UC Los Angeles, Berkeley and USC. UC San Diego also scored four and a half stars. Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization working to make college campuses more welcoming to LGBT students, bumped
SDSU from four and a half stars to five when it saw the impact the new student and faculty implemented programs and organizations were making. The organization awards colleges based on a detailed questionnaire about campus services and programs. One new addition to SDSU’s curriculum that surely caught the attention of Campus Pride was the creation and development of the LGBT studies minor. The minor, which has been active for only two years, has flourished in SDSU’s welcoming environment, attracting more than 20 students. The director of the minor, Dr. Esther Rothblum, hopes that a major can be developed in the upcoming years. Although the area of study has been growing exponentially, Rothblum’s courses are not necessarily a recent arrival. “There’s been courses (at SDSU) on the subject for years, perhaps even decades.” Rothblum said.
Unlike most programs, the LGBT minor goes beyond the classroom and out into the community. Through the minor students can get an internship with The LGBT Resource Center, The Human Rights Coalition, The Diversionary Theatre or the FilmOut San Diego film festival, all of which are highly respected events and nonprofits in the LGBT community and elsewhere. Another enormous contribution in the last couple of years has been the creation of Safe Zones. Headed by Co-chairs professor Susan Cayleff of Women’s Studies and Dr. Carrie Sakai of SDSU Counseling and Psychological Services, the program seeks to teach individuals about how to make LGBT students feel welcome on campus. Through Safe Zones, one can take a three-hour training course and become a certified “Ally.” An ally gets a Safe Zone sticker to display to signify they will welcome and support anyone involved in the LGBT community.
Professor Cayleff’s vision for the Safe Zones is “to create a campus that welcomes, supports, educates and provides a safe place for students, faculty and staff in the LGBT community.” There is something to be said about the open-mindedness in the community that exists at SDSU. To an observer, it seems the past five years have shown progress. “There were times when LGBT posters would be put up around campus and students would tear them down,” Rothblum said. Compare that to the SDSU that hosted the Queer People of Color Conference, celebrated an annual rainbow flag raising ceremony, enjoyed the Big Gay BBQ and organized a Lavender Graduation, commemorating the accomplishments of LGBT seniors. All of these events happened in the last six months. It is this progress towards eliminating sexual discrimination that has earned San Diego State distinction.
New minor allows students to go global R E N E E V I L L A S EÑ O R NEWS EDITOR
Every day, the world becomes more connected and the borders dividing nations become more blurred. In an increasingly global community, college graduates are often expected to have knowledge of different cultures and even international experiences. A new minor at San Diego State can help students achieve that skill. Last spring semester, the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts introduced the International Studies minor to SDSU students. Since its start, the program has grown from about 35 students to at least 100, accord-
ing to the International Studies adviser, Dr. Mei Zhong. “I think it is (important) because of the international atmosphere,” Zhong said. “The world is becoming smaller and I feel that a program like this would help enrich students’ study abroad experience.” The minor requires students to participate in a study abroad program. Students prepare for their time studying abroad during an introductory course where they are taught concepts of culture and self-awareness, dimensions of culture, theoretical perspectives and behavioral patterns, according to the International Studies website. Students then attend the study abroad program of their choice and conduct a research project while in another country. Past projects have included analyzing media styles, social
interactions and advertising styles. According to Zhong, students usually choose the subject of their project based on their major. Upon returning to SDSU, students take a capstone class that requires them to conduct comparative research in the U.S. about the same subject, that culminates in a portfolio. In addition to the introductory course PSFA 350 and capstone course PSFA 550, students are required to take two 3-unit classes while abroad and two electives at SDSU for a total of 18 units. Students are free to study abroad wherever they please. Past students have attended universities in China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and various countries in Europe. The development of the program began about three years ago, according to Zhong. Many faculty and staff members were interest-
ed in helping the development of the program, including acting as guest lecturers in the classes to share their international and research experiences. While the program’s development was generally a smooth process, the difficulty came when developing the core courses from scratch, said Zhong. “Our hope is to have it grow,” she said. “It has been growing pretty fast. We are hoping to attract students from all areas because the minor is open to all SDSU undergraduate students. My hope is to have a good program at the beginning. Hopefully, this will be something that they can be proud to show their (future) employers.” Students interested in more information about the program can visit psfa.sdsu.edu/intl_minor.