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NEWS
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014
HIGHLANDER
UC President Janet Napolitano holds a Google Hangout WINNIE JENG Senior Staff Writer
On Jan. 28, UC President Janet Napolitano hosted a web chat via Google Hangout with a panel of five UC students to discuss an array of topics encompassing tuition, undocumented students and student veterans. The web chat, which lasted an hour, was live-streamed to the public; it also featured a Q-and-A chat forum that allowed the public to submit questions to the UC president during the hangout session. The idea of Google Hangout sprang up shortly after Napolitano ended her tour of the 10 UC campuses, as many students asked her during the tour to provide a way for more frequent and direct communication with her. “This is part of our ongoing efforts to be in touch with students,” Napolitano stated during the event. “We need to constantly be challenging ourselves about not only what we’re doing, but what we can and should be doing for the future.” The panel was comprised of UC Student Regent Cinthia Flores, UCR graduate student and UCSA Secretary and Finance Officer Lewis Luartz, UCSB Student Veterans Organization President Paul Malone, UC Student Association Board Chair
Safeena Mecklai and UCLA Daily Bruin Assistant News Editor Kristen Taketa. Flores kicked off the conversation by posing the first question regarding the higher education pipeline at the high school and undergraduate level. Napolitano said that beyond the recent $5 million distribution among campuses to aid undocumented students, she has also been exploring new ways of reaching out to high school students. She is creating an online portal system that will allow smoother transitions for students transferring from community colleges into the UC system, and reaching out to more student veterans to discuss new ways of facilitating “Boots to Books,” which is a program that teaches military students college survival skills. Luartz informed Napolitano that many UC graduate students are concerned with not being able to find jobs outside of academia upon graduation, as job offerings within the private sector are becoming more and more appealing to the graduate students due to the increasing scarcity and lack of mobility of positions within higher academia. Napolitano recognized the concern of graduate students who wish to pursue careers outside
COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UC President Janet Napolitano hosted a Google Hangout with five UC students to discuss topics that affect students most, like tuition and documentation.
of academia, but noted that even though UC is not a traditional master of business administration (MBA) type of graduate school, many of the UC graduate students are already better prepared to go into the private sector because they have been trained to excel in areas outside of academia. “They have been doing research; they have been coming up with ideas; they have been involved in inherently team activities in their fields of study,” commented Napolitano. “So
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support.” Napolitano explained that she was working on various fronts to encourage reinvestment in the university from the public, the state and federal government and from private philanthropists. Napolitano viewed web chat as an ideal platform for an ongoing conversation with the UC community, and she vowed to engage in more of these types of online discussion in the future, with the inclusion of faculty and ■H staff.
FEBRUARY
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Free Blood Pressure Screening 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. UC Riverside Extension Center Suite 6
Tuesday Talk - Guy Talk 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Costo Hall 245
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Career Station 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Highlander Union Building Mall
Ask a Recruiter Linkedln Chat 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Highlander Union Building 268
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Former Interns Tell All 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Highlander Union Building 268
Men’s Basketball: Cal State Fullerton 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Student Recreation Center Arena
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Endgame: AIDS in BLACK America film Screening 12 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Highlander Union Building 355
Sunset Stroll to the “C” 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. Highlander Union Building 248
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Introduction to Pencil Drawing 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. UC Riverside Extension Center
Men’s Basketball: Long Beach State 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Student Recreation Center Arena
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Cinderella Project: Become a fairy god mother! 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Costo Hall 265
UCR Orchestra 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. University Theatre
Careers for Humanities Majors 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Highlander Union Building 355
Careers for Social Science Majors 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Highlander Union Building 355
Tuesday
Justin Ducut
helping graduate students translate (those skills) into something that makes sense for a recruiter in the private industry is something we can provide assistance on.” Proceeding to the topic of the UC’s funding and budget, Napolitano stated, “We need to have a serious discussion throughout California about the value of the university and its long-term ability to thrive. It’s a unique institution … but to keep it unique requires continuous sustenance … and aggressive
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-ASUCR Elections Director Chris Sanchez on banning the political party name [YOU]CR
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