“The Tiger’s Child,” a screenplay written by poet and Fresno State alumnus Burlee Vang and his brother Abel Vang has won an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2011 Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.

Theirs was one of five winning screenplays selected from the 6,730 manuscripts submitted in the program, which awards $30,000 the winners, the first installment of which is distributed at a Nov. 3 dinner in Beverly Hills.

The one-year fellowships allow screenplays to be completed so they can be marketed commercially by the writers.

Vang is a product of the Master of Fine in Arts Creative Writing Program at Fresno State. His poetry has been published in numerous journals nationwide and he also is the author of “The Dead I Know: Incantation for Rebirth,” published in 2010 by Swan Scythe Press.

Most recently, he was co-editor of “How Do I Begin? A Hmong-American Literary Anthology” (Heyday, 2011). Vang is a founding member of the Hmong-American American Writers Circle, which encourages emerging Hmong writers in the San Joaquin Valley.

The screenplay is about an orphaned 12-year-old boy’s decision about whether he will accept the risk of following his father into a secret army so he can provide for his 5-year-old brother.

For more information, visit http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111018.html

Vang’s website is http://burleevang.com/.

Nearly 70 years after Executive Order 9066 forced 250 California State University students to leave their campuses without completing their degrees, those students’ stories will be told in “The California State University: Sharing and Celebrating Stories from Nisei Honorary Degree Recipients.”

A screening will be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 28 at Fresno State’s Madden Library, Room 2206. Additional screenings are planned at other CSU campuses.

“The project is a memorial dedicated to the CSU students who were removed from our campuses in 1941-42 and sent to internment camps, unable to complete their educations,” said Colleen Bentley, CSU director of special projects.

“The CSU Board of Trustees awarded these students honorary bachelor’s degrees in 2010, and the video captures the dignity of the ceremonies as well as the celebration of the families.”

Actor George Takei, a member of the CSU Nisei Honorary Committee, is featured in the video giving an introduction, and Bob Suzuki, president emeritus of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, narrates. The video also includes remarks by Assemblymember Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, who introduced the legislation authorizing the CSU to award the honorary degrees.

Several honorees or their families will attend the Fresno State screening:

• Dr. Donna Arase, daughter of Harold H. Arase
• Dr. Joan Otomo-Corgel and John Otomo “Bucky” Corgel, family of John Hiroshi Otomo
• Susan Kiyoi, niece of Helen and Velma Yemoto
• Louise Isako Miyake

The video production is funded by a $23,000 grant to the CSU Chancellor’s Office from the California State Library through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program to honor approximately 120,000 Californians of Japanese ancestry affected by Executive Order 9066.

It is estimated that about 2,500 Japanese American students were forced to leave California’s colleges and universities. At least 250 of them were attending CSU campuses in Fresno, Pomona, San Diego, San Francisco, San José and San Luis Obispo.

The campuses searched their yearbooks, archives, library records, historical documents, enrollment records and other materials and were able to contact or locate about 125 of the 250 former students or their families.

Memorable honorary degree ceremonies were held at Fresno State and five other CSU campuses in spring 2010.

Related links:

• Fresno State Nisei Honorary Degree Ceremony
• Nisei Diploma Project

Take Back the Night, the international movement to raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence and violence toward children, will be observed from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at California State University, Fresno.

The free, public event, in its for the 32nd year on campus, is held at the Free Speech Area, north of the Henry Madden Library, and will include a candlelight vigil and a march.

It is presented by the Women’s Alliance and the Women’s Resource Center at Fresno State as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Take Back the Night rallies began as a response to sexual assault, rape, domestic violence and murder. They continue to be held in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America and India.

This year, the theme is “Invisible Violence,” which organizers describe as “present in many romantic relationships where young women and men miss the red flags until it is too late.”

In addition to the vigil and march, there will be music, speakers, information tables and an open mic time so participants can share feelings or survivor experiences.

For more information, contact the Center for Women and Culture at 559.278.4435 or visit http://csufresno.edu/wrc/activities/tbtn.shtml.

(Copy by University Communications news intern Reganie Smith-Love)

An air pollution study by a California State University, Fresno institute indicates that as ozone and fine particulates in central San Joaquin Valley air increase, so do rates of children’s asthma emergency-room visits and hospitalizations.

The study by the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State provides new regional evidence for the public health consequences of air pollution.

It offers the first local evidence of short-term population-level health effects associated with elevations in fine particulates and ozone for the Valley. Data are presented on air pollution impacts on emergency room and hospital use for respiratory and cardio-vascular conditions in the region’s most populous urban centers: Fresno/Clovis, Bakersfield and Modesto.

An estimated 1,830 additional asthma emergency room visits per year for children were associated with ozone and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). Children also experienced increased use of hospital emergency rooms for pneumonia, and adults were more likely to be hospitalized for asthma and acute myocardial infractions as levels of PM 2.5 increased.

The study, “The Impacts of Short-Term Changes in Air Quality on Emergency Room and Hospital Use in California’s San Joaquin Valley,” was conducted by the Fresno State institute for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Funding was made possible by the District and the California Wellness Foundation.

Institute Director John Capitman said, “The San Joaquin Valley is arguably the most polluted air basin in the United States. In particular, Bakersfield and Fresno are consistently ranked by the American Lung Association as the No. 1 and No. 2 cities in the nation, respectively, for the highest concentrations of short-term ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

“This study combined air quality and health care utilization data for Fresno/Clovis, Bakersfield and Modesto to address the question: Are short-term increases in air pollution (PM2.5 or ozone) associated with respiratory and cardiovascular emergency department and hospital admissions in the San Joaquin Valley?” Capitman said.

Tim Tyner, associate director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, UCSF-Fresno and co-author of the report, noted, “We found that children in particular face increasing risks for asthma exacerbations severe enough to seek care in the ER with increasing PM 2.5. Regionally, kids with asthma are more likely to end up in the ER even when air quality is rated as moderate [Yellow AQI], with the risk increasing linearly as air pollution worsens [i.e. Orange and Red AQI].

“The linear trend in the relationship between increasing air pollution and increasing asthma ER visits, after controlling for weather and other pollutants, and the similar outcomes observed at the individual city level, increase our confidence in these findings,” Tyner said.

David Lighthall, health science adviser for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, emphasized that the study results validate past efforts by the district and CARB to place further limits on sources of PM2.5 and ozone.

“For example, we now know that the significant reduction in wintertime air pollution that has resulted from wood burning restrictions is having a proportional health benefit for Valley residents, especially asthmatics. The same can be said for CARB’s motor vehicle controls,” Lighthall said.

“Our Valley air quality is a trigger for many asthmatics”, said Patti Burton, certified asthma educator and case manager with the Asthma Education and Management Program at Community Regional Medical Center.

“On a ‘bad air day’ (air quality is moderate or worse) the asthmatic should minimize outdoor activity, or even cancel it and stay indoors; be sure to use their medication at any signs of early distress; and seek medical attention in case of emergency,” Burton said.

The findings may also inform ongoing air quality policy debates. Sarah Sharpe, environmental health program director for Fresno Metro Ministries, said, “This information should be a wake- up call to all of us, especially our air board. It reminds us we need to get tougher on air pollution and make sure the public really understands how our health is impacted by air pollution.”

The Health Policy Institute, founded in 2002 to engage residents and decision makers on regional health policy issues, is housed under the Central California Center for Health and Human Services and Fresno State’s College of Health and Human Services.

For more information about the Institute and/or report, contact Capitman at  559.228.2157 or jcapitman@csufresno.edu.

Related links:

• Download the full report

California State University, Fresno now offers one of the largest internship programs in the California State University system through its partnership with the California Teaching Fellows Foundation and the Fresno County Office of Education.

The Teaching Fellows Program was created to improve the quality and diversity of future educators. To support that objective, the foundation is awarding Fresno State a $4.25 million grant. As program administrator, Fresno State will use the funds to provide student internships in the Teaching Fellows Program.

A celebration of the partnership took place Monday, Oct. 17, at Rowell Elementary School in Fresno. The program preceded national Lights On Week,recognizing the importance of afterschool programs in the educational development of young people. Fresno State President Dr. John D. Welty joined Fresno County Schools Supt. Larry Powell and foundation executive director Mike Snell at the event.

The Fresno County Office of Education provides internships in afterschool programs, while teaching fellows bring high-quality, creative and energetic support to their assigned school sites.

Through collaboration with school districts, the program offers more than 500 Fresno State undergraduates paid part-time internships as tutors and afterschool program assistants. Teaching fellows are enrolled across a variety of college majors and represent an ethnic diversity that closely mirrors the students they mentor.

“This program is a proven success for the entire community,” says Snell. “Our fellows are far more likely to finish their degree and find work after graduation. And the students our fellows mentor benefit tremendously by having a role model in the classroom offering encouragement and academic support.”

“Fresno State students flourish as a result of this invaluable opportunity to gain early field experience,” explains Anne Murphy, director of the Teaching Fellows Program. “By the time our fellows graduate, they typically have as many as 2,000 hours of additional classroom experience. This adds to their confidence and competence as they enter teaching positions.”

The California Teaching Fellow Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2004. The foundation’s collaboration with the Fresno County Office of Education and the commitment of funding to Fresno State to administer the program strengthen the partnership among these organizations.

For more information, contact Murphy at 559.278.0256 or annem@csufresno.edu

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Fresno State’s Bulldog football team brought the university’s Homecoming Week activities to the conclusion loyal alumni and other fans sought, rallying for a 31-21 victory over Utah State and a 2-0 record in Fresno State’s final year as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

Fresno State campus photographer Cary Edmondson captured the crowd’s Bulldog spirit and the rousing musical accompaniment that contributed to the winning atmosphere Saturday night in Bulldog Stadium.

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Healthy Eating and Activity for Life (HEAL), a new  program funded by Aetna to help combat obesity, kicks off at California State University, Fresno on Monday, Oct. 17, when student dietitians open the Mobile Wellness Booth in the  first of 10 events this semester and next.

The booth will be south of the University Dining Hall from 12:45 to 2 p.m.  with the dietitians, all graduate nutrition students at Fresno State, offering   tips on healthy lifestyles and presenting activities to heighten awareness of the campaign against obesity.

A recent study by the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State showed that San Joaquin Valley residents have a higher rate of being overweight or obese than the state average. About 65 percent of Central Valley adults are overweight or obese vs. 56.2 percent of adults statewide. About 15.5 of adolescents in the Central Valley are overweight or obese compared with 14.2 percent statewide.

“We want to help our fellow students maintain a healthy lifestyle through the campaign’s activities such as the  interactive wellness booths,” said dietetic intern Sarah Schuster, MPH.

Through an academic curriculum-Student Health Center collaboration, the student dietitians will provide direct, confidential counseling to students who sign up on their own or who are referred by the center’s medical staff. During the year, student-interns will create nutrition-related materials and online tools that can be used on and off campus to decrease obesity-related health risks.  There also will be educational sessions in classes on campus and a student healthy-weight competition in the spring semester, Schuster said.

This semester, the booth also will be available Oct. 31, Nov.13 and Dec. 5. In the spring, it will be up Jan. 30, Feb. 20, March 12, March 26, April 16 and May 7.

The Fresno State HEAL Wellness Program is funded by a $35,000 grant from Aetna (NYSE: AET) whose Chairman, CEO and President Mark Bertolini brought his personal commitment to the project to Fresno State  in August to present the check to President John D. Welty and Vice President for Student Affairs Paul Oliaro.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Harris, MS, RD, dietetic internship director in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, at 559.278.8009 or egfarris@csufresno.edu.

Links:

• New student obesity/wellness program funded by Aetna

The nationally-acclaimed Chemistry Club at California State University, Fresno will  kick off National Chemistry Week from noon-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Discovery Center (1944 N. Winery) where college students will lead a strawberry DNA extraction activity with children aged six to 14 at the top of each hour.

Admission is free, although a donation to the Discovery Center is encouraged. Workshop sessions are at noon, 1 and 2 p.m.

It is the first of several events Oct. 15-21 promoting chemistry, culminating with the club’s annual Kiss-a-Pig Fundraiser from 2-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the Science II Courtyard. Faculty will be competing to raise the most money with the winner earning the privilege of kissing a pig.

Other events are:

• Ÿ  Oct. 17 – USDA Agricultural Science Center tour at 6:30 p.]
• Oct. 19 – Children’s Hospital Central California Laboratory tour at 6 p.m.
• Oct. 20 – The Chemistry Department will demonstrate its projects on KMPH26 Great Day from 5-10 a.m.

Tours are open to the public, though space is limited. Signups can be made with Donnie Golden at dgolden@csufresno.edu.

The club is also raising funds with a t-shirt that has Fresno State spelled out in periodic tiles for a $15 donation through Oct. 21. Contact the department, 559.278.2103.

Last year the Fresno State Chemistry Club gained national recognition when the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, presented it two prestigious awards at the society’s 241st national meeting.

The club received the National Outstanding Award, the highest honor bestowed upon student chapters nationwide, and the Green Chemistry Award. Additionally, the chapter was recognized in two magazines, Chemical & Engineering News and in Chemistry.

For more information, contact Golden at 559.278.2922 or Chemistry president Alicia Alfter, alicialfter@mail.fresnostate.com.  

Related links:

• Chemistry Club Facebook
• The Discover Center

(University Communications news intern Nicole Maul contributed to this copy).

California State University, Fresno’s Homecoming Week 2011 is under way and was highlighted by Thursday’s  Fresno State Alumni Association’s Top Dog Awards Gala .

The week’s activities culminate with the Bulldogs football game against Utah State at 7 p.m. Saturday and a halftime performance by the Fresno State Alumni Band led by alum Warrant Officer Bryan Raya, U.S. Army Band in San Antonio, Texas.

At Thursday’s gala, Dr. Diana Meehan, the educator and documentarian who co-founded the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles, was honored as the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The 2011 Arthur Safstrom Service Award recipient is Peter Robertson (1992, ’95 and 2005), director of marketing and engagement for the Fresno State Alumni Association. The award honors alumni who have distinguished records of service to Fresno State and the off-campus community.

The Gala also recognized 13 other former Fresno State students from the university’s eight schools and colleges, the Henry Madden Library, Athletics, Division of Graduate Studies and Division of Student affairs for their post-graduate accomplishments.

The Top Dog winners also will be introduced at halftime of Saturday’s game.

Other Homecoming activities include live music in the University Student Union earlier this week and an office door decorating contest sponsored by the Staff Executive Assembly. Seven university offices entered. The winner will be announced at the Red Friday Homecoming reception Oct. 14 at 10 a.m.  in the USU Pavilion.

The Fresno State Homecoming Bulldog Band Bash benefit dinner is at 5:30 p.m. Friday at 6376 N. Montana Ave. in Clovis. Tickets can be obtained through Sindi McGuire at 559.278.5086 or in the new Music Building Office, Room 138.

At the band fundraiser, the Clendenin Brass Quintet will play, the entire Bulldog Marching Band will perform in uniform, and the popular HR7 rock band featuring graduates of the Bulldog Marching band will close the performances.

Proceeds benefit the Fresno State Wind Orchestra and Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland Scholarship Endowment.

On Homecoming Day, a Fresno State students tailgate will begin at 4 p.m. at the University Courtyard volleyball court.

Fresno State student leaders also will hold a tailgate and host their CSU counterparts from the California State Student Association, which is holding its October Plenary Session on campus for a tailgate and to attend Homecoming.

The Kennel Bookstore is holdings its annual Homecoming Sale October 10-15 with 20% off certain apparel, imprinted gifts, gifts and general books so fans can stock up on Bulldog gear for the occasion.

Bryan Raya

At the game, the Bulldog Band will be joined by the nearly 100-member alumni band that convenes annually for the occasion.  Begun by the late Norm Moglia, the band is led this year by Raya who graduated in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in instrumental performance (trombone).

In 2005, he joined the Army as a trombone player, and after he was first assigned to the 25th Infantry Division Band at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, he was deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2006-2007.  Raya also served with the Eighth U.S. Army Band in Seoul, Korea, and the 98th Army Band at Fort Rucker, Ala., before entering the warrant officer/bandmaster program. He attended Warrant Officer Candidate School and the Warrant Officer Basic Course in 2011 and is currently assigned as the executive officer with the 323d Army Band “Fort Sam’s Own” at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

He also has performed with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, and his military achievements include several honors and medals.

For halftime, the Fresno State band will perform “Dreams and Realities,” an original music score by Dr. Gary P. Gilroy, Fresno State director of bands. The  alumni band then will join in to play “Malaguena” – as played by the 1995 Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band.

Also, the Bulldog Marching Band will reveal its annual Norm and Patty Moglia Award presented to an outstanding band alumnus. It will be presented by the Moglia Family, Miss Fresno County Valerie Salcedo, Gilroy and Adam Wilke, Bulldog Marching Band director.

The Ethics Center at California State University, Fresno presents an academic conference, “Religion, and Civil Discourse,” Oct. 13-15 as part of its Leon S. Peters Ethics Lecture Series with 25 prominent scholars from across the U.S. sharing their research on civility and the humanities in diverse American cities.

The free, public event begins at 3 p.m. Thursday with a student panel focusing on the Obama Interfaith Service Challenge. It will be at the University Business Center located in the Peters Business Building (5245 N. Backer St). The Thursday night session will be at Arte Americas in downtown Fresno.

Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the purpose of the conference is to understand and promote civil discourse about increased religious diversity in California’s Central Valley.

It is supported by the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, the Interfaith Alliance of Central California and Arte Americas.

Conferees from across the United States will present original research related to civil discourse about religion, educating citizens about religion in the public schools, and other issues of concern in a world of religious diversity.

There will be four panel discussion and five featured speakers:

Oct. 13 (7-8 p.m.)  – ­ Jedd Medefind is president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. He is an author of Four Souls (Thomas Nelson, 2001), and he served in the White House as director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for President George W. Bush.

Oct. 14 (9-10 am)  — Amir Hussain teaches theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is the author of “Oil & Water” (CopperHouse, 2006) and is the first Muslim editor of one of the most prestigious religious studies journals in the U.S., the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.

Oct. 14 (1:30-2:30 p.m.) — Diane Moore is the author of “Overcoming Religious Illiteracy” (Palgrave, 2007). She directs the Religious Literacy Project for Teachers at Harvard University.

Oct. 14 (2:30-4:30 p.m.) — Bill Nericcio panelist and host of the cultural evening at Arte Americas) is a graphic designer and artist.  He is the author of “Tex{t}-Mex” (University of Texas, 2007) and is the first Chicano chair of the English Department at San Diego State University.

(Oct. 14, 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Arte Americas) — Rubén Martínez is an Emmy award-winning writer and performer. He is the author of “The New Americans” (New Press, 2004), and he hosted “When Worlds Collide” for PBS.

SCHEDULE

Thursday, Oct. 13, 3-4:30PM

• Pre-Conference Student Panel: “Interfaith Dialogue and Community Service (the Obama Interfaith Service Challenge)”

Thursday, Oct. 13, 7-8 PM

• Featured Speaker: Jedd Medefind, Christian Alliance for Orphans; “Tolerance is No Longer Enough: Why only a commitment to a robust pluralism can rescue America’s civic life”

Friday, Oct. 14: 9-10:00AM

• Featured Speaker: Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount University, “Religious Diversity and Public Education: The Example of American Muslims”

Friday, Oct. 14, 10:15AM-12:15PM

• Concurrent Panel Discussions

Friday, Oct. 14, 1:30-2:30 PM

• Featured Speaker: Diane Moore, Harvard University, director of the Religious Literacy Project, “High Stakes Ignorance: Religion, Education, and the Erosion of Democracy”

Friday, Oct. 14, 2:30- 4:30PM

• Concurrent Panel Discussions

Friday, Oct. 14: Evening Lecture and Reception at Arte Americas

• 6:30-7:30PM: Reception and entertainment by Cerro Negro
• 7:30-8:30PM: Featured speaker: Ruben Martinez, Loyola Marymount University, “DESERT AMERICA: The Question of the Neighbor in the Borderlands”
• 8:30-9:30PM: Reception and Entertainment by Cerro Negro

Saturday, Oct. 15, 9:00-11:00AM

• Concurrent Panel Discussions

For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Fiala  at 559-278-2352 or  afiala@csufresno.edu.

RELATED LINKS

• Ethics Center

The graduate program in the Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno is once again named among the best schools in the country by The Princeton Review.

The New York-based education services company features the school in the 2012 edition of its “Best 294 Business Schools” (Random House/Princeton Review, $22.99). The “best” designation is based on surveys of students who attend schools with accredited Master of Business Administration programs.

The Craig School is commended for its “low price and high quality education,” “real-world training” and the “solid foundation” it offers to students.

Robert Franek, Princeton Review senior vice president-publisher, said: “We chose the 294 business schools in this book based on our high opinion of their academic programs and offerings, as well as our review of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also strongly consider the candid opinions of students attending the schools who rate and report on their campus experiences at their schools on our survey for the book.”

The Princeton Review does not rank the schools in the book on a single hierarchical list or name one business school best overall. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University and it is not a magazine.

For more information on the Craig School’s graduate programs contact Tom Burns, manager of MBA programs, at 559.278.2107.

Dr. Peter N. Smits, the vice president for University Advancement at California State University, Fresno, was impressed by what he saw on a trip to Lincoln, Neb., to watch the Bulldogs play the Nebraska Cornhuskers in football.

There was a substantial contingent of Fresno State-supporting Red Wave fans, but the opponents’ stalwarts got Smits thinking about lessons to be learned in Lincoln.

Smits’ observations were published Friday, Sept. 16, in The Fresno Bee http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/09/15/2540014/peter-smits-lessons-we-can-learn.html.

A workshop addressing a shortage of Latinos, women and San Joaquin Valley residents in state civil service jobs and gubernatorial appointments will be presented by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, at Fresno State.

The free, public event, “Overview of State Government: The Governor’s Application and Appointments Process,” is 1-3 p.m. at the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, Room 172. A reception will follow.

It is the first of two events involving major Latino speakers during Hispanic Heritage Month at California State University, Fresno. The month-long celebration begins Sept. 16.

The other speaker is Dr David Hays-Bautista, a professor of medicine and founder/director of the Center of the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He will speak at 1 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Satellite Student Union as part of his Cinco de Mayo University Speaker Tour.

Another Hispanic Heritage Month event will be Football Fiesta Night at Bulldog Stadium Oct.7.

Hosted by the California Latino and Native American Leadership Council,  the workshop with Reynoso is co-sponsored by the Fresno State Latino Faculty Staff Association, Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies, University Migrant Services office and CAFÉ de California, a state employees association.

Reynoso was appointed to California’s highest court during Gov. Brown’s first tenure and served 1982-87. He was the first Latino to serve on the state’s highest court. Currently he holds the   Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality at the University of California, Davis School of Law.

At the workshop, Reynoso and Neptaly Aguilera, CAFÉ state president, will discuss Gov. Brown’s administration, state government appointees and the application process for a state appointment. The presentation will be moderated by Melinda Guzman, co-chair of the California Latino and Native American Leadership Council.

This is one in a series of presentations throughout the state, said organizer Vianey Nunez, a Fresno State alumnus.

For more information, contact Nunez at vianey.nunez@berkeley.edu.

(Copy by University Communications news intern Reganie Smith-Love).

Related links:

• Justice Reynoso

Andre Yang, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing student, is California State University, Fresno’s 2011 recipient of a William R. Hearst/California State University Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement, the CSU’s highest recognition.

The award is given to just one student at each of the 23 CSU campuses. Each must have financial need, experienced personal hardship and model exemplary academic performance, community service and personal achievements.

Yang’s parents arrived in the United States as refugees in 1979. Without English-language and job skills the family, which included him and his six siblings, struggled financially in economically depressed Southeast Fresno.

His first language was Hmong and Yang persevered through low scores on standardized exams to become proficient in English. It paid off. After graduating from Edison High School in 1999, Yang became the first in his family to go to college when he enrolled at the University of California, Davis.

But in his third year, he was diagnosed with Minimal Change Disease, a kidney malfunction that allowed his body to be saturated with water. Yang was on the verge of needing dialysis treatment, when a last-resort intravenous procedure succeeded in helping his body expel fluid. In just five days, he dropped from 218 pounds to 145.

“I was miraculously cured,” Yang said. “My doctors said they never understood why I was cured so easily. But overcoming that disease helped give me a new outlook on life, teaching me that sometimes things don’t need to make sense for us to make the most of life.”

The disease robbed Yang of a year in pursuit of his baccalaureate degree. He enrolled at Fresno State and graduated magna cum laude in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies. He also discovered a passion for creative writing.

He entered the university’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in 2008 and became a Philip Levine Scholar, Provost’s Scholar and graduate/editorial assistant for Fresno State’s internationally distributed literary magazine, The Normal School.

He was awarded a Kundiman Fellowship for emerging writers and participated in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop and the Napa Valley Writers Conference.

In 2004, Yang co-founded the Hmong American Writers Circle, a grassroots group that conducts weekly public creative-writing workshops, organizes literary readings and strives to build a Hmong literary culture.

“This effort has special significance because Hmong did not have a writing system until the 1950s. Many Hmong refugees to the United States could speak, but not write the language,” he said.

Yang and other Writers Circle members co-edited California’s first Hmong literary anthology, “How Do I Begin?: A Hmong American Literary Anthology,” published in August (Heyday Books/$16.95).

A launch reading will be held Oct. 21 at the Tower Theatre in Fresno. The editorial board will read at a Fresno Poets Association meeting Sept. 29 at Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library. The Fresno Poets Association is now part of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program.

Yang is a member of the Chicano Writers and Artists Association and the San Joaquin Literary Association. He plans to pursue a career as a university professor and a poet, helping others follow in his footsteps and documenting the Hmong-American experience.

The Hearst/CSU Trustees scholars will be honored at 2:30 p.m, Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Long Beach at a ceremony that will be part of the CSU’s 50th anniversary celebration, which begins at 1 p.m. at Dumke Auditorium (401 Golden Shore Ave.).

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation endowed the scholarship fund in 1984. It was supplemented, beginning in 1999, with trustee contributions and private donations. The Hearst/CSU Trustees program awards $3,000 to each student.

For more information, http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2010/release/Hearst2010.shtml.

Related links:

• CSU 50th Anniversary Celebration

New from the Press at California State University, Fresno is a novel about 16th century Venetian intrigues written by Dr. Joseph Satin, a dean emeritus of the College of Arts and Humanities, who now lives in the Bay Area.

“Pietro Aretino, The Sentient of Venice” (242 pages; $15) is the first novel in English about Aretino, a brilliant writer, scam artist, conniver and womanizer in the ruling courts of power first in Rome, then in Venice.

In reviewing Satin’s work, Dr. George Diestel, a Fresno State professor emeritus of communication, wrote that it “is written in a luscious style”

The novel, wrote Diestel, “recreates through engaging dialogue and vivid description the excitement of Pietro Aretino’s involvements, and most tastefully handles Aretino’s roguish exploits and amorous dalliances.”

The book also provides what Diestel called, “a spectacular gondola ride through the Renaissance realities of love and lust, aristocratic life and church power, political survival and personal integrity.

Satin, who earned his Bachelor of Science from Temple University and his master’s and doctoral degrees at Columbia University, was at Fresno State from 1973 to ’90. During his time as dean, there were numerous reorganizations and additions to existing programs, laying the foundation for today’s College of Arts and Humanities, Fresno State’s largest academic division.

His tenure included the debuts of the London Semester, Armenian Studies and Classical Studies programs; a creative writing option in the English master’s program; and creation of an Arts and Humanities Advisory Board. The Press at California State University, Fresno also was established.

“Pietro Aretino, The Sentient of Venice is available at www.thepressatcsufresno.org/, by calling 559.278.3056, or emailing press@csufresno.edu.

For more information, contact Carla Millar, 559.278.3056 or carlam@csufresno.edu.

A faculty panel discussion about Indian gaming focusing on a recently published anthology edited by Dr. Kenneth N. Hansen, a political science professor at California State University, Fresno, will be presented 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the university.

The free public event, which includes a book signing, will be in the Henry Madden Library, Room 2206.

“The New Politics of Indian Gaming: The Rise of Reservation Interest Groups” is co-edited by Hansen and Dr. Tracy A. Skopek, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wyoming. It examines how legal gaming on Indian reservations the past 30 years has become a major source of revenue for Native American nations with political and social repercussions.

Hansen, who joined the Fresno State faculty in 2005, is the adviser for the First Nations student organization and former co-coordinator of the university’s Africana and American Indian Studies Program.

He will lead the panel discussion, joined by Dr. Thomas Holyoke and Dr. Jeff Hagaman-Cummins, political science professors at Fresno State.

Hansen said the anthology addresses political campaign contributions by reservations, reservation shopping (the perception of going “off the reservation” to open casinos), reservations as special-interest groups, disenrollment of tribal members and “casino envy” by non-Indigenous people.

He expects local interest in the book because there are five casinos in the central San Joaquin Valley with “probably room for more once the economy starts to pick up.” Recently,  Bureau of Indian Affairs approved a North Fork Rancheria proposal to build a casino on Highway 99 near Madera off, some distance from the North Fork area.

Hansen’s book, published by University of Nevada Press earlier this year, will be available for purchase ($49.95) and signing at the event, which is sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the American Indian Studies Program and the College of Social Sciences.

University Communications news intern Reganie Smith-Love contributed to this report.

Related links:

• Dr. Kenneth N. Hansen

U.S. News & World Report ranks California State University, Fresno at No. 9 on its new list of top public universities in the West and sixth among public regional universities in California.

In addition, Fresno State was listed as No. 37 among all regional schools, both public and private, in the 2012 West rankings announced today.

The magazine considers regional universities those that provide a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs. Unlike national universities, regionals offer few, if any, doctoral programs. Fresno State offers 61 undergraduate degree programs, 45 master’s degree programs and a doctorate in educational leadership (two additional doctorates – in nursing practice and physical therapy will be added next year).

The ranking methodology considers peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

The western region is comprised of Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada

Fresno State’s graduate programs also ranked high in another assessment issued by Washington Monthly magazine in its September/October issue.

Fresno State is 15th in the nation on the master’s universities rankings list. The magazine rates schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research and service.

Fresno State is the highest-ranked California university – public and private – on the master’s list.

Related links:

• U.S. News & World Report rankings
• Washington Monthly rankings

The Smittcamp Family Honors College at California State University, Fresno has admitted its 13th class of high-achieving high school graduates for the 2011-12 academic year.

Honors College students receive an annual President’s Honors Scholarship for their undergraduate degree program up to a maximum of eight semesters. Scholarships cover in-state registration and fees and an optional credit for university housing.

The Smittcamp Family Honors College is unique in the California State University system because President’s Scholars are admitted as a group, take a series of specially designed honors courses and interact in educational and social activities. Applicants must score 1800 or above on the SAT, be in the upper 10 percent of their graduating class or have a minimum 3.8 GPA in college preparation classes.

The Smittcamp Family Honors College began in 1998 with a $1 million gift from Earl and Muriel Smittcamp and family, prominent agribusiness leaders and longtime supporters of Fresno State.

The 2011-12 Smittcamp Family Honors College President’s Scholars and their high schools are:

• Haleema Alyafaie of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Meghan Anderson of Arroyo Grande (Arroyo Grande)
• Sean Arifin of Fresno (University)
• Kari Ball of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Jillian Bertolucci of Fresno (Clovis North)
• Owen Bethke of Fresno (Fresno)
• Joseph Bohigian of Clovis (Buchanan)
• Carlie Bruce of Clovis (Clovis)
• Oshea Carter of Clovis (Clovis East)
• Fabian Casillas of Hickman (Hughson)
• Michael Conway of Hanford (Hanford)
• Jaime Cook of Clovis (Sierra and Beaver River Central, N.Y.)
• Amanda de Lima of Tulare (Tulare Union)
• Renan de Lima of Tulare (Tulare Union)
• Cassandra DeWitt of Clovis (Clovis)
• Shaelin Dougall of Santa Maria (Righetti)
• Robin Draper of Fresno (San Joaquin Memorial)
• Jacob Ellis of Fresno (Clovis North)
• Lauren Fernandez of Fresno (Bullard)
• Megi Hakobjanyan of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Stacy Han of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Kelsey Heater of Clovis (Buchanan)
• Kassandra Hishida of Fresno (Bullard)
• Kum Su Hwang of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Philip Kingsford of Visalia (Redwood)
• Kristin Lacey of Merced (Golden Valley)
• Gabriela Larralde of Clovis (University)
• Simone Leighty of Fresno (Buchanan)
• Brett Leonardo of Clovis (Logos Christian Conservatory)
• Kaitlyn Martin of Fresno (Central-West)
• Jonathan Meza of Fresno (Edison)
• Jillian Millares of Clovis (University)
• JoeAngel Miramontes of Merced (Merced)
• Sara Molina Cavazos of Hanford (Hanford)
• Carlos Moreno of Fresno (Edison)
• Taryn Morita of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Aubrey Muzio of Fresno (University)
• Chiara Nardocci of Fresno (Clovis)
• Stephanie Okada of Palmdale (Paraclete)
• Adrienne Olaivar of Clovis (Buchanan)
• Mathew Peranick of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Lucca Petrucci of Madera (Madera South)
• Miguel Santos of Hesperia (Hesperia)
• Zachary Smith of Fresno (Bullard)
• Abijit Suprem of Clovis (Buchanan)
• Alexander Tran of Fresno (Clovis West)
• Michael Ward of Fresno (Bullard)
• Ian Whiting of Fresno (Edison)
• Eryn Worthing of Bakersfield (Highland)
• Shayan Zoghi of Fresno (University)

Related links:

• Smittcamp Family Honors College

California State University, Fresno’s Central California Children’s Institute has received a $450,870, three-year contract from the Central Valley Regional Center Inc. to support the “Foundations of Infant Family Mental Health Training Project.”

The regional center contracts with the California Department of Developmental Service, to provide assessment, evaluation, case management, programs and activities for people with developmental disabilities. The center received Mental Health Services Act funding to conduct this project and serves as a community point of contact for people with developmental disabilities and their families who need access to services and support tailored to them.

The Central California Children’s Institute will plan, develop and implement a multicounty, multidisciplinary training program for professionals working with families with young children.

The program will teach basic infant-family and early childhood mental health curricula to 320 practitioners of six to seven large public agencies in Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Kings and Tulare counties. Training will respond to professional development needs of participating agencies, while moving attendees closer to meeting state-level endorsement.

“Families have enormous difficulty in weaving together the necessary services to meet their children’s needs. Funding training opportunities that foster interagency collaboration is an important step towards simplifying the process and improving access for low-income families” said the center’s executive director, Robert Riddick.

“This grant will help to improve the organization and integration of care for children with special needs by enhancing professionals’ knowledge and skills, while encouraging linkages between the community-based service providers”, said the Children’s Institute Director, Dr. Cassandra Joubert.

During the first year of the project, the institute will establish an Interagency training council with representatives of county Offices of Education, Departments of Behavioral Health and Social Services, Regional Centers and Children’s Services Networks.

After a year of planning, the training program will begin in fall 2012. Twelve training modules will be offered over two years with large lecture-style methods and small, multi-agency reflective practice learning configured to represent varied disciplines and agencies.

Learning pods will be facilitated by members of the First 5 Fresno County Reflective Practice Mentor Group. First 5 Fresno County is also providing grant funds to the Central Valley Regional Center to support the project.

For more information, contact Dr. Cassandra Joubert at 559.228.2150 or cjoubert@csufresno.edu.

Related links:

• Central California Children’s Institute

California State University, Fresno, will observe Constitution Day on Tuesday, Sept. 20, with a faculty panel discussing the topic “The National Debt Limit Debate: Economic or Political Crisis?”

A panel discussion from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Satellite Student Union will include Dr. Antonio Avalos and Dr. David Vera from the Department of Economics and Dr. Tom Holyoke of the Department of Political Science. Moderator will be Dr. Jeff Cummins from political science.

The event, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the College of Social Sciences and the Division of Student Affairs.

Constitution Day draws attention to the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and to educate Americans about democracy.