FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 12, 2005

CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260

Class of 2005 Will Receive Diplomas at 115th Commencement Ceremonies

California State University, Chico’s 115th Commencement will feature two Commencement ceremonies for the class of 2005, one on Saturday, May 21, and one on Sunday, May 22. In addition, several colleges and programs will hold receptions and special ceremonies.
More than 2,800 students are expected to receive bachelor’s degrees on Saturday and Sunday in the University Stadium. The ceremonies will take about two hours each, and will be held rain or shine. Tickets are not required for admission.

Thursday, May 19
The Education Recognition Ceremony will be held in Laxson Auditorium on Thursday, May 19, at 6:30 pm for credential candidates.

Friday, May 20
The annual nurses pinning ceremony will be on Friday, May 20, at 6 pm in the BMU Auditorium.

The commencement ceremony for 225 master’s graduates will be held in Laxson Auditorium at 7 pm. Christine Camara, the first in her family to graduate from college, will speak. Camara worked for her administrative credential while maintaining her full-time position as a teacher/principal/superintendent at Junction City School and caring for her family. Tickets are necessary for the graduate ceremony. For more information on this ceremony, call Diana Parks, Master’s Commencement coordinator, at 530-898-6049.

Saturday, May 21
On Saturday, May 21, the ceremony for graduating students in the Colleges of Communication and Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, International and
Interdisciplinary Studies and Natural Sciences will begin at 9 am.

Floyd L. English, alumnus of CSU, Chico, will deliver the address. For his
generous support of scholarships for students majoring in the natural sciences,
English will receive an honorary doctorate. English retired as president and CEO of Andrew Corporation in 2004 after serving in various management positions with the company since 1980.

The Black Commencement Celebration will be held at 1 pm in Harlen Adams Theatre (PAC 144).

The Latino Commencement will be held on in Laxson Auditorium at 1 pm.
The College of Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management will have a graduation celebration ceremony in Laxson Auditorium from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. A dinner will be held right after the ceremony on the lawn in front of Laxson with music by Chico Island Jazz. Tickets for the dinner are required.

Sunday, May 22
On Sunday, May 22, the ceremony for graduating students in the Colleges of Agriculture, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business and Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management will begin at 9 am.

Wally Herger, Congressman from California’s 2nd District, will address the graduates. Herger was elected to the California State Assembly in 1980 and to the United States House of Representatives in 1986.

The Child Development Program and the Associated Students Children’s Center will host an open house for child development graduates and their families and immediately following the Sunday graduation. It will be held in the Modoc classroom play yard, which is accessible through Modoc 131.

For more information about Commencement exercises, call the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 898-6472.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland, Tel: 530-898-4260

Bill McGowan,
Finance and Marketing
530-898-4182

Business Students Place 2nd at First Statewide
Sales Competition

California State University, Chico Finance and Marketing students placed second out of six other California State Universities in the first CSU Collegiate Sales Competition held on April 1 at CSU, Sacramento.

Chico student Dan Cox placed second in the overall student competition, losing out to the first place winner by only eight tenths of a point. Cox received $1,000 for his achievement.

Aspiring sales students from CSU campuses in Bakersfield, Chico, Fresno, Sacramento, Northridge and San Luis Obispo competed in the event. The students were required to complete two 15-minute role-plays, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. A panel of three judges viewed these presentations from another room on live video feed. The judges evaluated the students on approach, needs identification, presentation, overcoming objections, closing and overall presentation.

In the morning session, the students were given a profile of a businessman planning on expanding, to whom they were to sell Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) payroll services. ADP had trained the students in their product and provided them with a packet about the product. In the afternoon session, the students had to sell a Northwestern Mutual Financial Network insurance policy to the same hypothetical businessman.

CSU, Bakersfield received first place, with CSU, Chico second, and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo third.

“I’m extremely satisfied with our second place finish,” said Professor Bill McGowan, advisor to the team. “I want to commend Kyle Nichols, Dave

Coulombe and Dan Cox for all the effort and time they devoted to this first annual event. Dan Cox should be especially pleased with his strong second-place finish. All three of these students are involved in a variety of groups and/or work considerable hours off campus each week.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 4, 2005

Joe Wills
530-898-4143

Manufacturing Students Win Top Award at Prestigious Event

California State University, Chico manufacturing technology students won the grand prize at the prestigious WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge April 4 for building a lever-operated wheelchair incorporating three speeds and brakes.

The students will demonstrate their winning creation for the public and media at 9 am on Thursday, April 14, in the lobby of O’Connell Technology Center, Warner and 1st Street.

CSU, Chico bested a field of collegiate competitors that included Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Diego State, Washington State and Oregon Institute of Technology. CSU, Los Angeles took the first-place award, followed by Brigham Young University in second and Cal Poly Pomona in third.

CSU, Chico students worked with construction management student Amy Jones in designing the wheelchair. Jones, who uses a wheelchair, tested some of the modifications and provided feedback to the students.

The students took an off-the-shelf wheelchair and retrofitted it with 30 custom parts and bicycle components to enhance its capabilities.

The WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge is held on opening day of the WESTEC Expo, the largest annual machinery show in North America. The Expo and Manufacturing Challenge, in its 20th year, were held in the Los Angeles Convention Center.
CSU, Chico won grand prizes at WESTEC in 1991, 1992 and 2003, and first places in 1987, 1993, 1995 and 1998.

“WESTEC is the largest manufacturing competition west of the Mississippi,” said Dirk Vanderloop, coordinator, CSU, Chico manufacturing technology program. “We compete against the top technical universities and serious rivalries keep things lively. There is a third-place award, but I do not think we have ever received it.”

The Expo and Manufacturing Challenge are sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), which has more than 400 professional and school-based chapters worldwide. CSU, Chico’s manufacturing technology program has an SME chapter and 85 student majors.

Vanderloop said the WESTEC manufacturing project was much more than a classroom exercise. “Our students came up with an innovation that may offer lasting benefit to real people,” he said. “At first I thought what they had proposed was too ambitious. But they didn’t know it was ‘impossible’ to get it done, and proceeded to do it.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2005

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Tim Devine, Greenhouses
530-898-5229/5121

3,000 Plant Species On Show at Campus Greenhouses this Weekend

The Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Chico, invites you to an open house of its greenhouses on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, from 10 am until 3 pm.

The greenhouses, located next to the boiler-chiller plant southwest of Yolo Hall and near the railroad tracks, are home to a collection of more than 3,000 plant species. The plants range from the interesting to the exotic, including tobacco, passion fruit, a bo tree and a large collection of succulents, including dozens of cacti.

Tim Divine, who received his master’s in botany from CSU, Chico in 1985, is the greenhouse keeper. He was hired as a greenhouse technician in 1976. He brought 450 plants with him, and in the 29 years he has worked there, he has developed what is now an extensive collection through plant and seed exchanges with other universities and plant organizations.

Divine provides plants for lab materials in biology and botany courses, as well as tending the plant collection. Most of the plants for classes are grown in the greenhouse on the creek side of the Physical Sciences building. Plants are selected as examples of certain features, such as a leaf type, blossom or propagation method.

For more information, call the Department of Biological Sciences, 530-898-5356.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 11, 2005

CONTACT: Joe Wills
530-898-4143

Autism Society Honors Campus Clinic for Work with Children

The Autism Society of Northern California (ASNC) will be giving awards to kinesiology professor Rebecca Lytle, College of Communication and Education Dean Phyllis Fernlund and a number of California State University, Chico students tomorrow, May 12, at 11 AM in CSU, Chico’s Yolo Hall room 150.

CSU, Chico’s Sensory Motor Clinic, which serves autistic children, was founded by Lytle in fall 2003. The clinic is operated by CSU, Chico students learning adaptive physical education in a teacher training program. Additionally, children receive individual assistance from graduate students in other disciplines, such as nutrition.
“The clinic has made a huge difference in children’s lives, and parents want to thank Rebecca and the others involved,” said Kim Richards, resource director of the ASNC. “Parents say it’s the best therapeutic intervention for their children.”
Parent Nicole Earl, whose child was served by the clinic, will help Richards give plaques to Lytle, Fernlund and graduate student Josie Cline, who manages the clinic. Fernlund helped secure college funding for the program earlier this year. Eleven students who volunteer at the clinic will also receive certificates of appreciation.

“Rebecca had a vision for the clinic, and it has grown bigger and better with time,” said Gayle Hutchinson, chair of kinesiology.

The ASNC is a nonprofit chapter of the Autism Society of America that serves as a resource and support organization for families, professionals and individuals affected by autism.

Autism currently affects one in 166 individuals. A recent study from the Government Accountability Office reported a sharp increase in services for autistic children. In California, eight new cases of autism on average are diagnosed every day.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2005
CONTACT: Joe Wills
Tel: 530-898-4143

Students Overwhelmingly Support Building Recreation Center

By a 2 to 1 margin, California State University, Chico students voted March 8 and 9 to support the building of a 110,000-square-foot recreation center at 2nd and Cherry Streets on campus.

The special election referendum was conducted by the Associated Students of CSU, Chico, who will operate the approximately $55 million Wildcat Activity Center.

The preliminary vote count in the election found 4,832 votes tallied, constituting 31.7 percent of the student population. Yes votes supporting the recreation center numbered 3,228, for 67.2 percent, while 1,573 no votes were cast, accounting for 32.8 percent.

Once CSU, Chico President Paul Zingg has approved the election results and approved the go-ahead for building construction, planning will proceed for the building’s final design. Opening is scheduled for fall 2008.

“This is a huge success for the future students of CSU, Chico,” said AS President Adam Dondro. “They will now have the facilities they need to have not just a quality education, but a quality lifestyle. It is another step towards providing our students with healthy alternatives that will help our students enter the work force as a well rounded student.”

The Wildcat Activity Center will be paid for through a $175-per-semester fee for students that will start once the center opens. The University has pledged to contribute $5 million to the cost of the project.

Among the planned features of the Wildcat Activity Center are a 15,000-square-foot weight and fitness area, three or four gymnasium courts, three multi-purpose dance and aerobics studios, an indoor track and a pool.

The Wildcat Activity Center will be open to all enrolled CSU, Chico students. Campus faculty and staff members will have the option of purchasing membership. The center will replace warehouses located at the northwest corner of Second and Cherry streets.

The building will be built following standards established by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a program begun in 1999 by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED has a common standard of measurement and complete framework for assessing “green” buildings in areas such as energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2005

Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Scott G. McNall, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs 530-898-6101

New Dean of the College of Business Selected

President Paul J. Zingg and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Scott G. McNall are pleased to name Willie E. Hopkins, PhD, as the new dean of the College of Business, California State University, Chico. Hopkins is currently dean of the School of Business and Technology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

Hopkins brings an extensive background in administration, curriculum development, international education, distance learning and development and advancement to this position said McNall.

Hopkins received his BS and MBA from San Diego State University. Prior to his work as dean at UMES, he was at Colorado State University (CSU) from 1989 through July 2004. His administrative positions at Colorado State included chair of the Management Department and associate dean for Research and Administration.

Hopkins was involved in Colorado State’s distance MBA program between 1984 and 2000 and its Executive MBA Program between 1992 and 2002. He taught in both programs, developed curricula for both, and was involved in developing and designing the technology infrastructure for delivering the programs. He currently serves on the Online Learning Committee at UMES, which is charged with enhancing the instructional technology and distance-learning environment of the university.

As associate dean at CSU, Hopkins oversaw five centers and one institute in the college. Hopkins became familiar with the processes and procedures for starting centers, and was involved in starting the Center for Advanced Technology Management and Research, of which he was co-director. CSU, Chico’s College of Business has two relatively new centers, the Academy of International Business and the Center for Entrepreneurship, and is developing a Center for Ethics.

Hopkins has a strong interest in international issues and has published numerous articles on these topics, most recently, “A comparative study of quality management in Taiwan’s and China’s electronics industry” (International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 2004). He was involved with Colorado State’s efforts to globalize the curriculum and provide faculty with international/global experiences.

During his academic career, he has published 42 peer-reviewed articles academic journals; made 47 peer-reviewed conference presentations; published one book, “Ethical Dimensions of Diversity,” (Sage Publishers) and has a book forthcoming in 2005, “Aligning Organizational Subcultures for Competitive Advantage,” (Sage Publishers).

“I am delighted that we could recruit somebody of Dr. Willie Hopkins’ background and strength to the position of dean of the college,” said McNall. “He has an outstanding record of scholarship and is a seasoned administrator. We were fortunate to have three very strong candidates for the position and are delighted that Dr. Hopkins accepted our offer to become a member of the administrative team. Both President Zingg and I look forward to working with him and helping him to raise the college to the next level of excellence.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2005

Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Keith Sheldon, Journalism
530-898-5568

Tehama Group Communications Wins Two Public Relations Awards

Tehama Group Communications, California State University, Chico’s student-managed public relations agency, has won two public relations awards from the Sacramento chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

The on-campus agency won an IABC Crystal Award for the writing and design of Comm newsletter, the semiannual alumni publication of CSU, Chico’s School of Communication.

The agency also won a Crystal Award for the writing and production of the 2004 issue of Link magazine, the flagship alumni publication for the University’s College of Business.

“I’m delighted that our work continues to be recognized by professionals,” said Rachael Kotar, agency general manager. “The awards are a testament to our staff’s hard work, dedication and creative spirit.”

Winners will be honored at an awards dinner May 19 at the Tsakapolous Library Galleria in Sacramento.

This marks the third consecutive year that Tehama Group Communications has been recognized by IABC. Last year’s agency general manager, Erica Gandy, received IABC’s first Sharon Berzok Award, the highest award given to a public relations student.

Founded in 1990, Tehama Group Communications is the nation’s longest continuously operating student-managed public relations agency. The agency has experience working with local, regional and national clients.

IABC/Sacramento represents more than 125 professional communicators in the Sacramento area. The chapter is part of a worldwide organization with more than 13,700 members in 60 countries representing 10,000 organizations.

For more information, contact Keith Sheldon at (530) 898-5568 or ksheldon@csuchico.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2005

CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260

Plant Sciences Senior Recognized
as Young Botanist of the Year

The Botanical Society of America (BSA) has recognized William Gray, a graduating senior in the Department of Biological Sciences, as a “Young Botanist of the Year.” He will also receive a Certificate of Special Achievement from the Botanical Society.

Professors Kris Blee, Ailsie McEnteggart and Kristina Schierenbeck nominated Gray. He is working with Professor Blee in his graduate research and also works in the greenhouses with Tim Devine, CSU, Chico greenhouse keeper.

The purpose of the Young Botanist award is to offer individual recognition to outstanding graduating seniors in the plant sciences and to encourage their participation in the BSA.

Gray grew up on a hydroponics tomato farm in Arizona. His interests include development and growth regulation, plant genetics and plant defense. He will graduate this semester and will begin the master’s program in botany here at California State University, Chico in the fall.

Gray’s current research with Professor Blee is an exploration of peroxidase enzymes and their role in the lignification pathway. “Lignin is an important component of the plant cell wall,” explained Gray. “It provides strength and protection and, next to cellulose (bran), it is the most abundant biopolymer in plants.”

Results from the research could have important economic and environment implications, including increasing efficiency in pulp and papermaking and in animal feeds, said Gray.

“I’m delighted to have been chosen for this award. My interest in plants began at an early age, as I followed my father around the farm. I hope to one day work as a plant breeder,” said Gray.
The Botanical Society of America (BSA), one of the world’s largest societies devoted to the study of plants and allied organisms, was established in 1906. BSA promotes and encompasses all areas of plant biology. The society will hold its 2006 centennial meeting at CSU, Chico.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2005

CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260 Tonya Emerson,
Civil Engineering
530-898-5114

Student Society of Women Engineers Honored

The California State University, Chico student section of the Society of Women Engineer’s (SWE) has been awarded the 2005 Outstanding Student Section award for Region A. Region A covers northern California, northern Nevada and Hawaii and includes a total of 14 universities with engineering programs, including UC Davis, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Reno-Nevada and the University of Hawaii.

The award was based on the outstanding work of the student section during the 2004-2005 academic year. Some of their work this year included organizing and hosting the two-day Region A SWE Conference for professional and student members, developing mentoring relationships between lower-division and upper-division female engineering students, and participating in a large number of K-12 outreach events, which included a day of engineering for 65 local girl scouts to earn their Making it Matter badge.

The CSU, Chico SWE section’s main goal is the support of women as they pursue degrees in engineering and computer science. The club welcomes any member, male or female, who is supportive of women in technical degrees.
“This is an excellent achievement for our small section. They were competing against schools with student sections that are two to five times larger than ours, yet our students accomplished a huge amount of work this year, and the professional SWE members recognized that. These students are outstanding role models for all engineering students,” said Tonya Emerson, advisor to the SWE.

As women are still underrepresented in these fields, the SWE students also organize and participate in outreach events to excite young girls about science, technology, engineering and math. The past few years have seen a resurgence
in the efforts of SWE at CSU Chico. The students will be entering the national competition for Outstanding Student Section, which will be awarded at the National SWE Conference this October in Anaheim, Calif.