TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
Volume 95, Issue 8
Program aims to close gap in success
Exhibit celebrates Indian cuisine
Male Success Initiative to address graduation rates
The Arboretum hosts a Californian Indian feast
JAMES SMITH Daily Titan
SASHA BELANI Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton currently has among the lowest percentage of male African-American students of any Cal State University in southern California, a fact that Rodney Anderson, educational opportunity program counselor, is well aware of. To address this, and the fact that AfricanAmericans have the lowest graduation and rendition rates at Cal State Fullerton, Anderson has created the Male Success Initiative (MSI). The program outlines a number of goals which aim to improve the graduation and retention rates of minority and poor male students on campus in two ways. The first way will be to help black students pursue and achieve all their academic goals through faculty and peer mentorship. The second is to create a sense of social connectivity at Cal State Fullerton. Anderson hopes that getting students involved on campus will help to foster a sense of belonging on what is mostly a commuter campus. “The Male Success Initiative is a great thing that they have for young African-Americans,” said Akinkumni Darbeau, an 18-year-old international business major who is taking part in the program. “(African-Americans) are a small percentage ... It’s good to have friends also, that you can relate to in that way, culturally.” Anderson originally came up with the idea of the Male Success Initiative in April after talking with a colleague about ways to improve the graduation rates of the underrepresented males on campus. Once they realized that there was a lack of a support system for those male students at CSUF, they took action. MSI, currently in its second semester, is comprised of 16 black students, all of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. At this time the program solely consists of black students, but there are plans to reach out to all underrepresented minorities as the program grows. Every MSI student is paired up with a faculty mentor who meets with their student at least twice a month. Mentors help students in the program make professional academic connections and help them navigate through the confusion that can come with the transition to college.
gape-mouthed simulation dummies used during training. The lab is where students put their skills into practice, said Barbara Doyer, skills lab coordinator. Students’ skills are tested by performing a variety of tests ranging from making a bed to the more difficult task of starting IV’s, she said. While the students were the focus of the ceremony, the presenters, Otten and Cindy Greenberg, director of the nursing school, made a point to include how important the families of the students are to their success. “(The students) need someone other than us faculty and other than the students just that someone else that they can complain to about nursing school and about college life and all of that, but also be the one who says … ‘you can do this, and I’m proud of you,’” Otten said. Families provide support in a variety of ways such as providing financial or housing support, Otten said.
A room in the Arboretum is brimming with stories, some in black and white, others full of color, but not one voice is heard. In the background soft singing, in a language unknown to most, fills the room. Occasionally, a soft shuffle of feet interrupts the singing, but then it is quiet again at the Seaweed, Salmon and Manzanita Cider: California Indian Feast exhibit. The exhibit is the newest in the Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Museum at the Arboretum. It is a celebration of Californian Indian cuisine with glimpses into the preparation of food, the rituals that surround it and the communities that share and enjoy it. Attendees of the exhibit can see a woman of the Konkow Maidu tribe cooking for the Konkow Maidu feast. With two large cooking sticks made of wood, the tribal woman picks up a scorching stone, quickly dunking it into a pot of hot water to clean the soot and ash, and places it into a feast basket. The woman does this to cook the acorn mush, a vital dish to the feast made of acorn flour and water. The cultural event is important since it is considered the return feast. During this feast, the food or gifts are exchanged between two communities.
SEE CEREMONY, 6
SEE EXHIBIT, 6
SEE SUCCESS, 2
AMANDA SHARP / Daily Titan
Cal State Fullerton nursing students receive their white coats in a ceremony Saturday.
Coated with success White Coat Ceremony honors CSUF nursing students
CYNTHIA WASHICKO Daily Titan
Thirty-seven nursing students took the next step along their career paths as the Cal State Fullerton nursing faculty presented them with white lab coats Saturday, marking the beginning of their clinical studies. As part of the School of Nursing’s White Coat Ceremony, the students donned the well-known apparel over white scrubs to denote the start of the next two and a half years of their studies, which will take place in hospitals around Orange County. The group marked the fourth set of students to take part in the ceremony since its inception in 2011, according to Rebecca Otten, coordinator of pre-licensure programs for the school of nursing. As a highly competitive program that includes two semesters of intensive class and lab work, the White Coat Ceremony is the next step in the demanding path to
becoming a registered nurse. “(The ceremony is) the entrance into the rest of my life, my future career,” said Jennifer Vargas, one of the students involved in the ceremony. “It’s the first step in a long journey.” The ceremony is just another jumping point as students move out of the classroom and into the field. Even with the new challenges ahead, the foundation these students have built in the classroom will give them solid ground moving forward. Cristal Martinez, another student who took part in the ceremony, said she expects to be nervous about moving on to the next phase. “But I know that my professors have taught me well, and I’ve learned from them so much that I know that I’ll be okay with their guidance and my skills.” The event began in the nursing simulation lab as students gave their families and friends a tour of the room that demands much of their time and energy during the semester. Students also walked with their families around a large room lined with hospital beds, complete with
Cooper Center celebrates Darwin’s 205th birthday 132 years after death, naturalist celebrated for his research KYLE NAULT Daily Titan
Several of Charles Darwin’s theories are still in practice and used in the academic field in today’s world. Due to his renowned theory of evolution by natural selection, among others, the deceased man of 132 years is still considered by many as one of the most influential persons to shape mankind and scientific research. As his 205th birthday is coming up Wednesday, Cal State Fullerton faculty and students gathered Monday afternoon in the Portola Pavilion of the Titan Student Union to celebrate Darwin Day with the help of the Cooper Center. The two-hour program, co-sponsored by the College
MARIAH CARRILLO / Daily Titan A child eats a piece of birthday cake Monday as attendees celebrate Charles Darwin’s 205th birthday at the Cooper Center-sponsored event in the Titan Student Union.
of Humanities and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, was highlighted by three academic presentations that bridged the gap between Darwin’s centuries-old theories and modern-day thinking. “Darwin changed modern civilization with his view of the history of life,” Jere Lipps, Ph.D., explained.
Lipps, the director of the Cooper Center, said that many of the research methods Darwin used on his voyage are still methods employed by students today. His presentation, titled “Darwin Voyaging ‘Round the World on the Beagle,” provided insight on how Darwin accumulated most
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of his knowledge, which he later put into practice in his work. “All science is an adventure, most of it is an exploration of something so he set a standard with that trip,” he said. The voyage lasted for over five years and provided the origins for the scientist’s thought, Lipps said.
Not only did the event cover Darwin’s initial voyages, it also tackled the evolutionary theory that became Darwin’s claim to fame. James R. Hofmann, Ph.D., chair of the Liberal Studies Department, presented his information on the widely known topic to the pavillion audience. Through the use of Darwin’s own literary work, On the Origin of Species, Hofmann explained how the scientist wanted people to appropriately look at fossils to determine a common ancestor. “When you start looking at the history of life and you start trying to look for evidence of how the web of life hangs together, you have to be careful not to be tempted to look for intermediate types between two organisms that are alive now,” he explained. SEE DARWIN, 2
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