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The announcement of $2.5 million in gifts— including a significant collection of drawings by the evening’s honoree and Sac State alumnus Wayne Thiebaud— was among the highlights of the third annual Green and Gold Gala on Oct. 5. The 150 Thiebaud works on paper represent the breadth of Thiebaud’s career, from his early work as a cartoonist to the present day. The collection— valued at more than $1 million—is the gift of anonymous donors. It will be housed in the University Library’s Special Collections and University Archives.
Other gifts announced at the Gala included:
» A $500,000 gift to honor John and Myrna Stremple. Of that, more than $375,000 will go toward scholarships for math and science honor students and $125,000 will support Sac State football.
» A bequest of approximately $400,000 for scholarships in education, from the estate of Earline Ames, a former Sac State administrator.
» A $400,000 bequest to the College of Education, from the estate of alumna Nancy Owens.
» A $100,000 gift for scholarships for students in the honors program and to support other University programs, from the Wells Fargo Foundation.
» A $156,000 gift to support faculty development and scholarships for re-entry students, from the estate of Charlotte Walker, wife of former Sac State academic vice president Stephen Walker.
Thiebaud is a three-time alumnus, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as an honorary doctorate in fine arts.
Thiebaud began his work as a cartoonist and enrolled at Sac State in 1950. He taught at Sacramento Junior College (now Sacramento City College) and was part of the UC Davis faculty from 1960 until his retirement in the early 1990s. His signature style of brightly colored still-life paintings was established around 1960, and he continues to paint today.
When Estelle Rees Arroyo transferred to Sac State from Sierra College in Grass Valley, she didn’t plan to land in the media spotlight. She just wanted to get a degree in history.But when you’re a 90-year-old junior, you’re bound to attract attention.
Arroyo is definitely the oldest student on campus, and most likely the oldest to ever attend Sac State. That distinction drew the interest of media nationwide.
First, the local press tagged along with her as she made her way from one class to another. Arroyo was accompanied by local television crews for a couple of days, then a reporter and photographer from The Sacramento Bee captured her story. Her professors and fellow students grew accustomed to the media presence, as photographers and reporters recorded her mingling in the classroom.
Arroyo went national when a feature on her which had aired on local NBC affiliate KCRA was picked up by the “Today” show. Other local stations around the nation also aired the video footage, and Arroyo did a phone interview for an MSNBC program. Later she was featured on the nationally syndicated program “Inside Edition.”
Arroyo has seen a lot of “firsts” in her life. A Bay Area native, she witnessed the construction of the Bay Bridge and still speaks fondly of the ferry it replaced. She’s also lived in and visited exotic ports of call throughout the world, but was caught off guard by the reporters and photographers who flocked to her this fall.
“It kind of embarrassed me,” Arroyo says of all the attention, noting she didn’t seek any of it. “It came and bit me.”
Arroyo did have to turn down one request. She declined an invitation to be flown down to Los Angeles for an interview on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” because it would have caused her to miss class. “People will forget my name the next day,” Arroyo says, “but my grades will stand forever.”
To view a slideshow of Arroyo’s campus activities, visit www.csus.edu/news.
Stop by Santa Clara Hall, and you’ll see a place that’s part engineering lab and part factory.
Somewhere in the building, a race car is being built, a bridge is being constructed and a canoe is being designed. And these aren’t just models or even traditional designs. The car can go up to 65 mph, the bridge can hold a 2,500- pound load, and the canoe is made of concrete.
The student projects will be put to the test in competitions against other universities in the spring.
“These competitions give students realworld experience on how projects are built and how they are conceived since they must design their projects basically from scratch,” says Civil Engineering Professor Ali Porbaha.
For one event, the members of the University’s Society of Automotive Engineers car club are building a Formula One-style, open-wheel race car. “We’re buying parts and working on the design right now,” says student Michael Bell. “We’re on time, and the only thing that can hold us back is funding for more parts.”
Other students are designing a 21-footlong bridge they hope will win the annual Student Steel Bridge Competition sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction. “We’re seeking advice from professionals about how to organize, design and fabricate our bridge,” says Kendra Iwahashi, steel bridge team captain.
Elsewhere students are designing a canoe, not with wood or fiberglass, but with concrete. “Floating is one of the criteria. If it doesn’t float, the team will lose points,” says Porbaha.
“Students are working on what mixes work and what geometric designs are best.”
Porbaha says student competitions are more than just fun. They are a way for students to apply skills they’ve learned as they prepare for careers in engineering. “The projects are smaller in scale but the process is the same. You set the goals and learn how to convert optimum design from paper to reality.”
Description: Usually to begin understanding the dense musings of literary theorists, students have to open up a dictionary. But English Professor David Toise instead encourages his students to break out the popcorn. Toise introduces the structure of challenging literary theory through film. Students compare movie themes with theorists’ conclusions. The Matrix, for example, exemplifies French psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan’s theory that reality isn’t what we experience, but that our experience is really filtered by language. Which in The Matrix’s case, is computer code. And in Elizabeth, students discuss how The Virgin Queen manipulates symbols and language to create power for herself, as introduced by many theorists of the new historicism theory. Class work: Students write four short papers making connections between movie themes and literary theories presented in class. They then write a final paper that connects the underlying themes of two films with the theories of two literary theorists of their choosing.
Students say: “I will never watch The Matrix in the same way again,” says former student Jennifer Nolan. “Professor Toise presented the material in a way that we could understand and retain.”
Assignments: Students must deconstruct films and literary theories by posting their summations at least eight times on the Web CT discussion board.
How do you make a quality program even better? Bring in the pros. The Theatre/Dance and Music departments are strengthening their offerings by teaming up with two of Sacramento’s most respected professional organizations. Music has taken advantage of an established working relationship with Sacramento Opera to help train opera students, and stage a pair of productions.
Timm Rolek, Sacramento Opera’s artistic director, is working with the students and will conduct Sac State’s opera production in March. Guest stage director Yefim Maizel, from The Metropolitan Opera, helped students with their stage moves and guided them through their winter opera scenes.
Not only do the students get professional training and advice on making a career in their field, Sacramento Opera also gets a pool of talent to dip into. Universities elsewhere have connections with local, professional opera companies. “But we are one of the first to establish a formal working relationship between the two entities,” says Robin Fisher, voice professor and a performer in Sacramento Opera productions.
Theatre and Dance is realizing similar benefits from its partnership with California Musical Theatre, producer of Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento. CMT assisted with the production of Gloria Bond Clunie’s North Star in the University Theatre this year, including underwriting a personal appearance by the playwright and a playwriting workshop with the students.
Like Fisher, Melinda Wilson, professor and North Star director, believes the University’s partnership with CMT is unique. Similar arrangements in other cities don’t extend much beyond internship programs, Wilson says. Having representatives talk personally with the students, and underwrite special appearances, takes it to another level.
 Azucena HinojosaSenior, Psychology "Mostly in the University Union because there’s food, computers for studying and I like to relax in the music room." |
 LaStarr Moore Sophomore, Business "Right now it is the second floor of the University Union. I’m in the honors program, so on those days, I’m in the honors lounge." |
 Michael Floyd Sophomore, Business "The library quad. It’s a really cool place. I like that there’s a lot of places to sit in the sun or shade and there are lots of activities." |
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 Jackie HawesFirst year Nursing "Mostly the classroom, I guess. I only eat on campus on Thursdays, so the River Front Center is a nice scenic place to eat." |
Efrain AlanisRemembering Serna - The life and legacy of former Sacramento mayor and Sac State professor Joseph Serna are the subject of an exhibit in the library’s Special Collections and University Archives through Feb. 29. The exhibit documents Serna’s life from his early years as the oldest child of a farmworker family, his activism with the United Farmworkers and his public service as mayor before his death in 1999. The items were donated by the Serna family to the University in 2004. The collection is available for scholarly research. Details: (916) 278-6144
Chinese students, American tax system - Eighteen students from Hubei Province in central China are on campus learning how the American tax system works. A customized yearlong training program through the College of Continuing Education has them taking classes in business, international accounting and leadership development, and also doing job-shadowing at the California Franchise Tax Board. The students work for the Hubei Province Local Taxation Bureau and were selected by the Chinese government to attend Sacramento State. It may be the only program of its type in the United States, and it is hoped it will become a model to be used in the future with other groups.
Loft living - A new semester meant brand new off-campus housing for some lucky students—the Upper Eastside Lofts on 65th Street near Folsom Blvd. The lofts can accommodate more than 440 students and feature an “urban loft” design with high ceilings, full kitchens with modern appliances and granite counters, and in-unit laundry facilities. Residential advisors live in units on site, and residential life programs are integrated with other campus life programs. The project, part of a campus effort to expand housing options, will be joined by a new oncampus residence hall in summer 2009. See slide show at www.csus.edu/news.
Enrollment hits new high - New online services, as well as a later payment deadline for student fees, helped students register earlier this year. And Sac State to reach record enrollment. This fall 28,845 students enrolled in classes. That’s up more than 300 from last year and tops the previous high of 28,558 in 2002. The enrollment figures reflect gains in freshmen transfers, senior transfers and graduate students, as well as a nearly 10 percent increase in international students. While enrollment grew for the fall, the campus still missed its growth target for the fall semester by about 0.5 percent.
