Selected Stories
Wall Street Journal [Nov. 27] reported that increasing numbers of students are enrolled in distance learning programs because of their convenience, from undergraduate-to-graduate courses nationwide. "By 2002, almost 2,100 schools are expected to support distance-learning programs, up from 1,500 schools in 1999, according to figures from International Data Corp.," the newspaper said. "Schools such as Stanford University…Duke University… California State University, Dominguez Hills… are among a growing number of institutions that offer accredited degree programs online. And many more colleges simply offer lists of classes, both accredited and non-accredited, that students can participate in over the Web."
News & Observer [Nov. 26] quoted Larry Rosen, professor of Psychology, near the beginning of a story about people’s fears of high tech. "Matt Ramsey sometimes unplugs his at-home Macintosh to escape it siren call. It’s not always easy…. Dr. Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, encourages Ramsey and other high-tech professionals to cut back on their computer time. Rosen and other psychologists say technology workers are at risk of suffering clinical depression and anxiety disorders if they sacrifice human interaction in an effort to stay on top of their rapidly changing field. ‘Even those who are the highest of the high-tech feel like they’re behind, and there’s no way of seeing a point where they might get ahead,’ said Rosen, whose book, TechnoStress, tackles the issue. ‘It can really lower their feeling of self-worth. It makes us feel irritable and frustrated, like we are in an endless loop.’"
Long Beach Business Journal [Fall 2000] published a magazine supplement - "Focus on the city of Carson" - that called special attention to the university’s 40th anniversary and quoted President James E. Lyons, Sr.: "Beyond the immediate celebration, the occasion offers us an opportunity to look back as the circumstances and the issues that have shaped Dominguez Hills since its founding. Thus, we have a renewed sense of how this university has traveled down the path of education and opening the doors of opportunity to our students, and how we can best meet its future needs." The publication noted that CSUDH "is one of only three campuses among Cal State’s 22 campuses where minorities are in the majority" and that more than 39 percent of its students are over 30 and enrolled in post-graduate study.
Press-Telegram [Nov. 17] reported that Dominguez Hills is among those with the largest percentage increases in the California State University system. "The highest percentage increases were at the California Maritime Academy (12 percent), CSU San Marcos (9) and CSU Stanislaus (8.8). Neighboring CSU Fullerton experienced a 4.4 percent jump from last year. Cal State Dominguez Hills, which increased by 376 students, rose 3 percent."
Daily Breeze [Nov. 6] chief columnist John Bogert wrote a column that began, "A few weeks ago, I wrote about Shawn Brown, the Cal State Dominguez Hills student who lost a leg below the knee, preparing for the Paralympic Games in Sydney where — true to the idea that the human spirit can indeed rise above misfortune — he has since won a gold medal in the discus with a throw of 47.96 meters."
San Diego Union-Tribune [Nov. 5] and Associated Press [Nov. 1] reported that President James E. Lyons, Sr. was appointed by Chancellor Charles B. Reed to a five-member California State University committee comprised of CSU presidents to "review and strengthen they system’s alcohol policies." According to a Harvard School of Public Health study of 100 colleges in 39 states, the newspaper reported, "44 percent of college students binge drink. For young men, binging is ingesting five drinks and for women four drinks. And 52 percent of college students drink to get drunk. The Community Collegiate Alcohol Prevention Partnership, reports SDSU’s binge drinking rate at 25 percent. Three incidents have gotten the attention of California State University Chancellor Charles Reed. Tau Kappa Epsilon and Beta Theta Pi, two SDSU fraternities chapters have been suspended pending an investigation into whether one or more of their members supplied alcohol to two 18-year-olds who ended up hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. And at California State University Chico, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity was also suspended after one of its pledges, 18-year-old Adrian Heideman, was pronounced dead after drinking at the fraternity house. The story quoted Chancellor Charles B Reed: "Alcohol is the No. 1 problem on American college and university campuses and whatever is second is a long way off. If you get police records for assaults, date rapes, property destruction, it is all linked back to alcohol."
Orange County Register [Nov. 4] reported on the special residence occupied by "Drs. Milton and Margaret Gordon. He is president of California State University, Fullerton. She is dean of Extended Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills." And, the newspaper explained, their 5,792-square-foot home, plus tennis courts and four acres of manicured lawns, gardens and trees, was donated by the pioneer Chapman family of Fullerton to CSU Fullerton to use as the official home for the president: "This house is a residence for the Gordons, but it is also a place for receptions and some informal business meetings with community and university people. The Gordons’ residence is on the second floor. Though they use the downstairs personally, it is also used for all those meetings and receptions. ‘You should hear about the time he came downstairs in his pajamas and found people whom we thought had left the party,’ Margaret says."
National Institute of General Medical Sciences UPDATE [Fall] mentioned that several scholars enrolled in Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) were honored for their overall academic performance. U-STAR was begun in 1998 and aims to boost the number of minorities pursuing graduate degrees in the sciences. Funded by the National Institute of Health, it enables students to receive research training at CSUDH laboratories and at the Harbor-UCLA Research and Educational Institute in Torrance.
- T.W.
