It takes courage to enter a new academic world—Page 8
Meet the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, Michael Pazzani—Page 18
Chancellor
Timothy P. White
Vice Chancellor, Advancement
Peter Hayashida
Publisher
James Grant
Editor
Lilledeshan Bose
Writers
Frances Fernandes
Litty Mathew
Sean Nealon
Iqbal Pittalwala
Ryan Ritchie
Michelle Woo
Senior Designer
Brad Rowe
Production Manager
Luis Sanz
Contributors
James Brown
Ross French
David Kisailus
Kris Lovekin
Olivia Rivera
Kristin Seiler
editorial assistant
Konrad Nagy
Illustrations
Dave Cutler
Zach Trenholm
Photographers
Gabe Acosta
Meranda Carter
Lonnie Duka
Michael Elderman
Carlos Puma
Peter Phun
Carrie Rosema
Distribution
Virginia Odien
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Questions? Concerns? Comments? Contact Kris Lovekin at kris.lovekin@ucr.edu
08 | First-timers—For students who are first in their family to go to college, UCR makes it a mission to ease the transition into university life and provide a pipeline toward higher education and beyond
18 | Painting on a Bigger Canvas—Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Michael Pazzani has big goals for UCR
20 | Engineered to win—Lecturer Kawai Tam's winning formula for students of Bourns College of Engineering is getting nationwide recognition
22 | The Storyteller—Clifford Trafzer is helping UCR create future scholars of Native American history through his endowment and research
26 | Stand up and be Counted—The UC regents are counting on voters to pass Prop. 30 in November — here's why
03 | R View—A message from Chancellor Timothy P. White
04 | R space—Catch up on the latest news at UC Riverside
24 | Page turners
28 | How I see It—We asked UCR alumni, via Facebook, to give incoming freshmen sage advice. See what they said
29 | What Is It?—Professor David Kisailus explains why the mantis shrimp is just so darn fascinating
30 | Alumni Connection
31 | Class Acts
36 | C Scape—Joseph Yi ('08), social media adviser to the L.A. Lakers, Clippers and Oakland Raiders
About the cover: At this year's commencement ceremonies, Chancellor Timothy P. White was congratulating a few graduates when a little boy tugged on his robe. The chancellor picked him up and put his regalia tam on the boy's head, but the boy — who didn't speak English — wanted something else. He kept motioning up to a balloon stuck in a tree. Being the tallest person around, the chancellor got the balloon down by using a chair and a garbage can as a step ladder, then hooking the balloon string with a pair of glasses. Chancellor White said, "When I got down, I lassoed the string around the boys wrist so it wouldn't slip off again. I thought he'd be happy. But no, he kept pointing up with grave concern. Finally a family member told me another balloon had left his little grip and gone up into the sky, and he wanted that one back as well." For us, that story symbolized UCR students' aspiration and ambition, as well as UCR's commitment to helping students reach their goals. It became the inspiration for our cover.
10.13—The fourth annual Chancellor's Dinner to benefit UCR students will be held at the Highlander Union Building, with a dessert reception on the ARTS Plaza. Several UCR student groups will perform. Dinner will take place in the third-floor ballroom, where the 2012 Alumni Awards of Distinction and the UCR Medallion will be presented.
10.22-10.23—This annual event will include nearly 10,000 plants and more than 500 varieties of trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous plants, shade plants, water plants, and house and patio plants. Expert Botanic staff and master gardens gardeners will be available to answer horticultural questions.
Through 10.27—In "HORIZON/S," artist Matt Lipps focused on source material from the American arts and culture magazine Horizon. The publication, which debuted in 1958, provided a popular visual platform on historical art narratives such as modernism. Lipps carefully cut out images from vintage issues and curated them into unifying groups that betray the original context of source imagery.
www.culvercenter.ucr.edu/exhibitions/landing.php
11.14—The LGBTRC honors the 14th annual National Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20) with a display memorial to be posted outside the Highlander Union Building. It will commemorate the 400 known victims of transgender-related violence. The Transgender Day of Remembrance pays tribute to those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
11.17—Learn about goddess symbols from various cultures and then create your own personalized figures. Fabrics, beads and embellishments become part of the powerful process of creating mixed-media art dolls. Learn to craft three unique figures through simple beading, stitching and sculpting techniques.
Through 12.31—"Four Gravities" is a series of computationally generated animations that are based on the play of gravity on different scales: planetary, industrial, botanical and cellular. Each animation grows and behaves according to its own generative logic, but is interrupted with new actions every time a viewer opens the Culver Center doors.
www.culvercenter.ucr.edu/exhibitions/landing.php
Through 12.14—"Ecce Homo" is a survey of paintings and prints from the past decades by Ed Beardsley, whose long and varied career includes teaching stints at UCR, where he was also the dean of the division of Fine Arts in the College of Humanities. Beardsley is the founder and first director of the internationally renowned UCR/California Museum of Photography.
www.culvercenter.ucr.edu/ exhibitions/landing.php
Through 1.26.13—"Mexico at the Hour of Combat: Sabino Osuna's Photographs of the Mexican Revolution" is an exhibition of the 427 glass negatives from the Osuna Collection, which are kept in the Special Collections section of UCR. From 1910 to 1914, photographer Osuna captured the various protagonists and moods of the revolution's early days. The exhibition is accompanied by a 144-page book that includes several essays.
www.cmp.ucr.edu/exhibitions/sightunseen
Fall is a time of beginnings, and the campus is dotted with new students — anxious, excited, and proud — trying to find classes and puzzling over the new language of higher education. More than half of our incoming students are the first in their families to attend college, and because that was also the case for me, I identify with their sense of being cast adrift in an alien sea.
At UCR we welcome these students to a system carefully designed to mitigate the drawbacks of being a first-generation student — a system that every one of us is fighting tooth and nail to preserve.
A few months ago, UCR bequeathed a record number of more than 5,000 bachelor's, master's and doctorate degree-holders to California. I need only look at our many faculty members who were the first in their families to attend college to know what a huge impact those fresh new graduates will have on this state and this country.
In this issue of UCR, you will read about many of these people — students, alumni, faculty — who are creating change in their own lives, the lives of those around them and in the state economic outlook. Their stories are rich in courage and determination, inspiring those who come after them.
Long before he became a household word in California as the state's poet laureate, Professor of Creative Writing Juan Felipe Herrera was guiding, inspiring and encouraging students. He validated their experiences, endorsed the value of their ideas and encouraged them to dream large — just as he dreamed his way out of migrant labor camps and onto a UC campus.
Distinguished Professor Susan Straight shares her first-generation experience not only with her students, but in her Los Angeles Times columns, on public television and in her novels. Theater department professors Tiffany López and Rickerby Hinds take their experiences with struggling urban youth to the stage and into programs that can point youngsters in a positive direction.
College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Dean Marylynn Yates and Assistant Professor of Education Michael Orosco were the first in their family to attend college, and their siblings followed suit. As a result, Orosco's college-educated siblings have been as successful as he. Three Ph.D.s and two other successful college graduates round out Yates's family. In contrast, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Eamonn Keogh and School of Business Administration Interim Dean Yunzeng Wang are alone among their siblings in the pursuit of higher education.
I notice a common theme among our many first-generation faculty. Each of them credits the individuals who inspired and encouraged them; each is dedicated to providing the same support to their own students; and many reach out to the larger community to provide hope and a path for youngsters to fulfill their promise.
I also hold dear to my heart the community college instructors who empowered me with a passion for learning and an excitement about science, just as those high school teachers who looked askance at the idea of my own path being college-worthy remain burned in my memory.
At UCR, we are determined to instill passion and excitement for scholarship and research. Academically, we place students in first-year learning communities where they study select topics with a handful of peers, enabling them to forge strong ties and reliable support systems. An early warning system flags students who are struggling and provides help in a timely manner. These and other support programs are improving retention rates and grade-point averages.
This year almost 60 percent of the incoming students — about 3,000 young people — are first-generation college students. They have jumped many hurdles to get here. We eagerly look forward to sharing their academic journey.
Timothy P. White
Chancellor
John Martin Fischer, a distinguished professor of philosophy, has been awarded a three-year, $5 million grant by the John Templeton Foundation to undertake a rigorous examination of a wide range of issues related to immortality. It is the largest grant ever awarded to a humanities professor at UCR, and one of the largest given to an individual at the university.
"People have been thinking about immortality throughout history. We have a deep human need to figure out what happens to us after death," said Fischer, the principal investigator of The Immortality Project. "Much of the discussion has been in literature, especially in fantasy and science fiction, and in theology in the context of an afterlife, heaven, hell, purgatory and karma. No one has taken a comprehensive and sustained look at immortality that brings together the science, theology and philosophy."
Half of the $5 million grant will be awarded for research projects. The grant will also fund two conferences. Fischer was also recently named the 2012-13 Faculty Research Lecturer by the Academic Senate. The honor is the highest the Academic Senate bestows. Fischer will present the Faculty Research Lecture in spring 2013.
Physicists on experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the particle physics laboratory on the border of Switzerland and France, announced on July 4 that they've observed a new particle. Whether the particle has the properties of the predicted Higgs boson — the world's most sought-after particle — remains to be seen.
UCR is a founding member of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, a large particle-capturing detector at CERN, and is one of only five U.S. institutes to be a founding member. UCR was a key contributor to the design, prototype testing, and construction of the endcap muon chambers, one of the principal detector components used in the search for the Higgs boson.
If the particle is confirmed to be the Higgs boson, it would represent a keystone in our knowledge of the elementary forces and particles that exist in our universe.
UCR has three postgraduate researchers and eight graduate students stationed at CERN, who are participating in CMS detector maintenance, operation and upgrades.
Juan Felipe Herrera kicked off his two-year poetry project as California Poet Laureate last June. Titled "The Most Incredible and Biggest and Most Amazing Poem on Unity in the World," the poet wants submissions on unity — in the form of words, phrases or stanzas — from everybody.
"All views are welcome — all languages, all styles," the poetry professor explained. "We'll have a rolling wave of poetry for two years!" he added. With infrastructure and digital help from organizations such as the Inlandia Institute, the poems would then be broadcast on digital billboards throughout California.
The first-ever Chicano poet laureate hopes that the project will expose everybody — not just Californians — to poetry. After two years, Herrera will collate all the submissions and turn them into a multimedia installation at Capitol Park in Sacramento. The poet was also honored by the Riverside City Council, which named Herrera the Arts and Innovation Honoree of the Month on June 12.
The Graduate School of Education is launching a minor in education. It's open to undergraduate students from any major and will feature courses in education policy, the history of education, the workings of schools, and other topics in school and non-school settings.
The 24-unit education minor doesn't lead to a teaching credential, but some of the courses may be used toward a teacher education preparation program, such as the one offered at UCR.
Aspiring teachers will obtain a foundation of understanding about human development and cognition, and practices for teaching and learning in areas including special education, literary and language, curriculum and teaching strategies, and educational research.
At 19, Juliet Beni is already a UCR veteran, with a corner office and a view.
OK, so the office is a former storage closet, but Beni has called it her academic home ever since she was 15 years old — and already a senior in the psychology department.
Beni graduated last June with a Ph.D. in psychology. According to Linda Scott of UCR's Graduate Division, she's one of the youngest people to ever do so from UCR.
The daughter of UCR engineering professors Susan Hackwood and Gerardo Beni, Beni went to a Montessori preschool. Her father homeschooled Beni and her sister Catherine. (Last year, Catherine graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. at the seasoned age of 20.)
Community college classes provided a stepping stone to four-year schools. Catherine focused on applied math at UCLA for her undergraduate degree. Juliet focused on psychology at UCR.
Juliet Beni will continue as a student in UCR's Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences this school year, and hopes that in a few years she will earn her next diploma: an M.D. from UCLA.
Millions of immigrants representing every major world religion call Southern California home, and the diversity of religious practice and the role of these spiritual communities in the acculturation of immigrants into American life prompted the establishment of the Institute for the Study of Immigrant Religions at UCR this year.
The institute was launched on June 1. Amanda Huffer, assistant professor of religious studies, Jennifer Scheper Hughes, assistant professor of religious studies, and Michael Alexander, associate professor of religious studies, are co-directors.
"We looked at the faces of our students, many of them first-generation college students," Alexander said. "Their families had stories to tell that weren't being told."
Housed in the UCR Center for Ideas and Society, graduate students associated with the center began in January to gather oral histories and other documentation of communities of Iranian Jews, Latino Catholics, Latino Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Indonesian Sufi Muslims as well as Hindu and Buddhist temple rituals, gurdwaras and gurus. Over time the institute will also expand upon methods and theories for studying urban religious communities in the United States.
The first floor of Winston Chung Hall at Bourns College of Engineering is now being powered by a 1.1-megawatt-hour bank of rare earth lithium-ion batteries. It is one of the largest storage battery installations at a university in the world.
The installation was made possible by researchers at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), and teams from Balqon Corp. in Harbor City, Calif., and UCR's grounds and facilities crews.
Sadrul Ula, managing director of the college's Winston Chung Global Energy Center and a member of the research faculty at CE-CERT, said, "This system allows us to store energy when supply is plentiful during late-night hours and utilize it when maximum demand during the afternoon stresses the grid to the limit. We can also charge the batteries when clean renewable energy from wind and solar is available and deliver it when it is needed, thereby adding value to these intermittent forms of energy."
This utility-scale, battery storage system will help reduce UCR's and Riverside Public Utility's peak system demand. The system is powering the first floor, which includes classrooms, offices, computer and instructional laboratories, and the Bytes café. The batteries were donated by Winston Chung, chairman of Winston Global Energy and Balqon Corp. and fellow of the Bourns College of Engineering.
Despite treacherous conditions on Mount Everest, UCR anthropologist Young Hoon Oh and teammates from Seoul National University successfully reached the summit of the world's tallest peak last May.
Oh and his team scaled the summit early in the morning on May 19, and arrived safely in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, a few days later.
Oh acknowledged the difficult feat in an email to to UCR anthropology professor Sally Ann Ness: "There were many accidents on the mountain this year," he said. Four climbers had died in separate incidents that month due to bad weather and overcrowding near the top of the 29,035-foot peak.
This expedition to Mount Everest, Oh's second, is part of the fieldwork for his anthropology dissertation, "Forces of the Unknown: Subjective, Intersubjective, and Presubjective Community in Himalayan Mountaineering." His research will focus on the communities mountaineers create and the transformation of Sherpa society after nearly a century of aiding hundreds of international climbers. Oh plans to spend more than a year living with Sherpa families to document the impact of mountaineering on their culture.
Chandra Varma, a distinguished professor of physics at UCR, has been awarded the 2012 Bardeen Prize for his outstanding contributions to explaining the intriguing phenomenon of superconductivity.
The Bardeen Prize is awarded triennially by the international superconductivity research community. Of the 13 previous winners of the prize, three have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
Natasha V. Raikhel, a distinguished professor of plant cell biology and one of the most highly cited researchers in plant science, was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her excellence in original scientific research.
Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Raikhel brings the number of current UCR faculty elected to NAS to five. Some of the group's more renowned members are Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright and Alexander Graham Bell.
Raikhel has made lasting scientific contributions in plant biology.
A camera system on wheels called "the Trike" made the rounds at UCR on June 20 and 21, mapping the sidewalks and pathways for future publication in the Street View feature of Google Maps. College campuses are among the institutions with the most to gain from participation in the Street View program, as it makes it easy for prospective students to "walk" the campus.
Results will not be visible on Google for several months. The company uses face-blurring technology to make faces and license plates less visible. UCR joins a growing list of universities, amusement parks and museums allowing Google to map pedestrian spots.
Three UCR scholars have launched a research project to test — for the first time — the use of facial recognition software to help identify unknown subjects of portrait art and centuries-old sculptures displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Ultimately, the project may enrich the understanding of European political, social and religious history.
Funded by an initial grant of $25,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the research project — "FACES: Faces, Art, and Computerized Evaluation Systems" — will apply state-of-the-art facial recognition technology used in the fight against terrorism to solve vexing art historical problems, said Conrad Rudolph, professor of art history and project director.
"Almost every portrait painted before the 19th century was of a person of some importance," Rudolph explained. "As families fell on hard times, many of these portraits were sold and the identities of these subjects were lost. The question we hope to answer is, can we restore these identities?"
Participating in the research are Amit Roy-Chowdhury, associate professor of electrical engineering, and Jeanette Kohl, associate professor of art history, whose research focuses on images and representations of the face in the Italian Renaissance.
If the refinement of facial recognition software to identify works of art is as successful, Rudolph says the technology could be used in museums and art conservation laboratories as a standard part of curatorial and preservation practice.
For students who are first in their family to go to college, UCR makes it a mission to ease the transition into university life and provide a pipeline toward higher education and beyond.
By Michelle Woo
As the university counts down to a new academic year, Highlanders are abuzz with the standard, beginning-of-school anxieties. Will I get all my classes? What will the parking situation be like? Will I get along with my roommate?
But for first-generation students, those whose parents never attended college, a different set of questions may drift through their minds: Am I betraying my family by pursuing my education? If I leave my community, will I ever go back? Do I really belong here?
While teaching a class in the CHASS Connect series, a program designed for first-year students in the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences, creative writing professor Susan Straight listened as participants expressed such fears. Within the group of 75 freshmen were young men and women from all over the world, from Indio to Compton to El Salvador to China to Iran. For many, this was their family's first introduction to the world of higher education, and at a time of economic downturn, the stakes were high.
"They had concerns that many other students would never have to think about," Straight says."Some felt that their parents were so proud, and that they had to live up to certain expectations."
She could relate. Once a first-generation college student herself, Straight remembers the difficulties of navigating a place that seemed so foreign. "It was like I was missing an entire vocabulary," she recalls. "What was Phi Beta Kappa? What's a Fulbright? What are all the different fellowships?"
Today, the university has made it its mission to ease the transition. UCR is home to the largest population of first-generation students in the University of California system — last year, 59 percent of freshmen were first in their families to continue their education beyond high school. These students bring a fresh perspective and unique determination to the campus, says James Sandoval, vice chancellor for student affairs.
"The one thing I've seen is that they have a tremendous drive to succeed in their educational goals and carry with them a tremendous commitment to make a difference in our society," he explains.
Yet many also enter college with a specific set of challenges. Some arrive from high schools that hadn't equipped them to handle a rigorous academic course-load. Others feel torn between their desire to help their struggling families back home and their drive to continue working toward a degree. Many simply lack mentors and role models who can show them basic how-tos.
That's where the university steps in."It's up to us to help them understand that not only have they earned their right to be here, but also that they have the ability to succeed," Sandoval says.
Over the past decade, UCR has taken on ambitious initiatives to recruit and retain first-generation students. For instance, each of the academic colleges offers First Year Learning Communities (FYLC), where groups of 20 or more students take the same cluster of courses together, allowing them to create tight-knit communities within a large university setting. CHASS Connect for first-year students in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences is one example of an effective learning community.
In 2010, the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based educational research organization, hailed UCR as a model for educating African American and Latino students.
TRiO is a set of federally funded programs designed to motivate students from disadvantaged backgrounds with college potential. One of these programs is the Educational Talent Search (ETS), which works toward putting low-income high school students in the San Bernadino City Unified School District on the path toward pursuing a college education. ETS recently received a five-year, $1.15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
UCR's Medical Scholars Program is designed to increase the graduation rate of pre-health students, particularly those who wish to serve in medically underserved communities. Program officials strongly encourage first-generation and socioeconomically disadvantaged students to apply.
For many first-generation students, a major source of support comes from the university's ethnic programs — African Student Programs, Chicano Student Programs, Native American Student Programs and Asian Pacific Student Programs — which each offer tutoring, mentoring and networking events.
Ken Simons, director of UCR's African Student Programs, says the goal is not only to empower first-generation students, but also their parents. Through campus tours and discussions, leaders provide them with a familiarity with the university and a vocabulary to help them guide their children throughout their four years in college.
He explains,"Parents who have not gone through this process might not know how to ask their children the right questions — questions such as: 'Have you been to office hours? Does your professor know you by your first name? Have you built up letters of recommendation? Have you gotten involved in campus resources?' We let them know that we're here to serve as a surrogate and to fill in the blanks, and let them know that we have their son or daughter's back."
All the efforts seem to be paying off. In 2010, the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based educational research organization, hailed UCR as a model for educating African American and Latino students. Both student populations traditionally consist of high percentages of first-generation students. A study conducted by the organization, titled "Big communities and its intense focus on data. his family financially and in other ways, and Gaps, Small Gaps," revealed that Latino "Leaders are constantly paying attention to had to make the tough decision for himself to and African American students at UCR graduate at approximately the same rates as their white peers.
Mamie Lynch, a policy analyst and co-author of the study, says that the data "proves that gaps are not inevitable." She attributes the achievements to the university's committed leadership, learning communities and its intense focus on data. "Leaders are constantly paying attention to the numbers to make sure they are serving students the best they can," Lynch says.
At the individual level, the personalized attention has profound effects. Sandoval tells the story of one first-generation student named Caeser. "He was from a very low-income community in the Inland Empire," Sandoval says. "He was still helping his family financially and in other ways, and had to make the tough decision for himself to leave Southern California to attend Harvard. I've kept in touch with him, and he just has a tremendous appreciation for his education at UCR and is committed to give back to the community. One of the things that holds true with first-generation students is that they never lose sight of their roots."
The incoming freshman
Growing up, Cally Tat always had a tight bond with her mother, Bonnie. They'd cook together, shop together and even go to school together. Not the same school, of course. Bonnie, who hadn't picked up a textbook in more than a decade, decided to enroll at San Bernardino Adult School to get her GED.
"I was so proud of her," Cally says. "I thought, if she could do it under her circumstances, why can't I?"
Born in Vietnam, Cally's parents immigrated to the United States in 1989. They didn't speak much English, and had to take on multiple jobs at restaurants to get by. Once Cally and her younger brother came along, their focus turned to providing their children with all the opportunities they never had.
Understanding that sacrifice motivated Cally. She signed up for the most difficult science classes at San Bernardino High School, and excelled. Soon, she became part of the Educational Talent Search Program at UCR, a program designed to help low-income teens with the potential to become first-generation college students. The program includes academic and financial advising, tutoring, visits to college campuses and assistance with college admission requirements. She was also part of the college prep program AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination).
Cally, now 17, will be studying biology at UCR starting this fall with the help of grants and scholarships, including a Rotary Youth Leadership Award. "I can't wait to be part of something new," she says. "College is not just about academics. You get to learn about life. It opens you up to the real world."
She says there are high expectations that come with being the first one in the family to attend a four-year college, but she isn't nervous. "There's a lot of help out there," she says. "My parents are so supportive, but not everyone is as lucky. Even so, there's always help. People want you to go to college."
Her mother Bonnie says, "The fact that she had the motivation and persistence to be the first to go on past high school is something my husband and I are proud to tell others."
Cally's advice for first-generation students: "It's hard out there if you don't have a college education. Think about the long term."
The college senior
For Freddy Lopez, discovering music was the turning point. He'd been a shy, passive kid growing up in East Palo Alto, Calif. While he got good grades, high school mostly bored him, and work — he held down jobs at Best Buy and Whole Foods — seemed like a road to nowhere.
Then he heard the beat. A leader of an after-school program that he attended cranked up a boom box one day and started rapping about life and faith. The teens, who usually drifted off during lessons, were suddenly engaged — Lopez included.
"Now you try," the leader instructed. Lopez was hesitant at first, but started jotting down lyrics. Inspired by artists such as Tupac and Eminem, he simply wrote about what he knew.
"Hustlers, dealers and cop killers Roguish, homeless and dope heads Little kids rolling on stolen mopeds, hopeless while moms and pops work their asses off at low-wage heavyweight dead end jobs Doing their best to provide for the hive Ghetto life it's a strive nothing easy, believe me"
The exercises captivated him, energized him, and soon he began spending all his time crafting songs from the heart. He started to wonder if music could take him beyond the rough streets.
"I looked at my parents and was like, they have no education but they've managed to live on their own and take care of their family," says Lopez, who has five siblings. "I thought, if I have an education, I can do all that and more."
So he attended community college in Northern California and San Diego, immersing himself in student organizations and community activism. When it came time to transfer, he chose UCR, primarily because Riverside's Eastside neighborhood "reminded me of my hometown."
"I went into college with the idea that I was going to help the community," he says.
Now 23, Lopez is fulfilling that commitment. He received a $10,000 grant from the Donald A. Strauss Foundation to start a program called "Art of the P.O.O.R" (People Orchestrating Optimistic Renditions), an after-school program that empowers at-risk middle and high school students through arts education. UCR students team up with teens as they delve into skits, songwriting, spoken word and hip-hop performances.
"Music is what helped me out," says Lopez, who is majoring in ethnic studies and creative writing and plans to be a professional performing artist. "It made me more conscious to my surroundings and gave me the motivation to want to go further."
Freddy's advice for first-generation students: "Maybe try out community college first. That's where you gain a lot of understanding of how the college system works without jeopardizing finances."
The recent graduate
Whenever Aaron Clark ('12) would hop off the bus heading toward the city, he'd stop and stare at the UC Berkeley bell tower across the way.
It seemed so close, and yet worlds away from his life in the housing projects of Oakland, Calif.
One day, he thought. "I'd tell myself, 'I'm going to college. That is where I wanna be,'" he recalls.
Though getting there wouldn't be easy. Outside his thin walls, there were drugs, fights and gunshots. He'd often lie in bed, throw a tennis ball against the wall and contemplate life.
"I'd think about the future, about the house I would have, the wife I would have, who I would meet in college," Clark says. "I'd tell myself, 'I'm gonna be important, I'm gonna be successful. And I'm not gonna be here.'"
He reminisces about his rocky past while sitting at a coffee shop near his job in Los Angeles — he's a resident advisor for a summer program that houses international students who are learning English. Having recently graduated from UCR with a degree in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in sociology and public policy, Clark now wants to help clear the path for others to succeed.
The 24-year-old became a corps member with City Year, a national nonprofit agency that sends young adults into struggling schools to teach and mentor low-income students. He ended up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, a community not much different from his own. He taught the youngsters to sit up straight, to look people in the eye when they're talking, to believe in themselves. "I was hard on them, but in a brotherly way," Clark says. "I'd say things like, 'You got a C-minus on your paper — what's up with that?' And they'd be like, 'But I passed.' And I'd say, 'No, not good.' I wanted to be a positive role model as a man of color. I wanted to help them get out of that environment and break the cycle."
As for his own achievements, Clark thanks the people at UCR who helped ease his transition. Being part of groups and programs such as Residence Hall Association, service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, Student Alumni Association, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Amnesty International and CHASS Connect was crucial in giving him a sense of place at the university, he says.
Clark hopes to serve another term with City Year and then go to law school and later pursue a career in real estate. And he'll always remember his roots. "I always promised myself that if I could go to college, if I could make it out of the difficulty, I would give back to my community," he says.
Aaron's advice for first-generation students: "Even if you come from a difficult situation, it is very possible to get out. Find something you really want to do, focus on it and find resources that will help you get there. And as cliché as it sounds, never give up on yourself."
The Ph.D. student
On multiple occasions, Jessamine Quijano considered quitting.
"I'd think, 'What am I doing? Is this the right path?'" she says. "Sometimes, it would get too overwhelming, or teachers would make me feel like I didn't belong."
In pursuing a career in microbiology, Quijano says it was the support of friends and mentors that kept her going all the way to where she is now: on the path to a Ph.D. with a $60,000 fellowship. "I'm floored," she says. "I walk around campus thinking, 'I'm here. I can't believe I'm doing this.'"
During her years at Cal Poly Pomona, where she received her bachelor's degree, life at home was difficult. Her father had moved back to El Salvador, and her family was struggling. She considered leaving school, but then a professor gave her some words of advice.
"She told me that I'd be helping my family more if I continued with my education, and if I waited a little longer, I'd be financially better off," Quijano recalls. "She was so right."
Quijano eventually felt that she owed it to family and herself to stay. Growing up in Tujunga, Calif., a small city near the San Fernando Valley, her mother had made many sacrifices for her education. For instance, she used a relative's home address to get Quijano and her brother out of attending the high school in her town, which was notorious for student drug use. The family would wake up at dawn each day and drive to the nearby city of La Crescenta so that the kids could have, as Quijano describes, "a fighting chance at this thing called life."
In Spanish, Jessamine's father says, "I am proud of my daughter for being in college, for following her dreams in this wonderful country that allows her such an opportunity. It opens many possibilities for her that weren't available to us."
Now it seems like there are no limits for the 25-year-old, who is working with Professor Sharon Walker in the Department of Environmental Engineering on a project that investigates the attachment of bacteria on durable superhydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces.
"I'm falling in love with the engineering aspects of microbiology," she says. "I want to pursue an M.B.A. as well. I'm really tempted to do it. I mean, I only have one life."
Jessamine's advice for first-generation students: "Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do this. Just because somebody doesn't give you the answers doesn't mean you can't find them on your own. And just because you don't think you're good enough doesn't mean other people won't think you're good enough."
The accomplished alumnus
Ever since he can remember, Michael Campbell ('80) was drawn to all things mathematical.
"I always had a curiosity about the world, and math came easy for me," he says. "It was like solving puzzles — everyone likes to solve puzzles. I thought it'd be really cool to one day get paid to solve puzzles."
Today, Campbell is the chief software engineer within the navigation division of the Space Systems Group. He lives and works on the premises of the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Calif., where he oversees software issues within the Space and Missile System Center's global positioning (GPS) programs. When he reflects back at his career path, it seems very much like a puzzle. All the right pieces simply fell into place.
After graduating from Corona High School, Campbell pursued a degree in mathematics at UCR. There, he met Thomas Payne, the founding chairman of the university's computer science department. The field was just starting to catapult off the ground and Payne wanted Campbell to be a part of it.
"He basically took me under his wing, mentored me and taught me about what it means to go to college, what it means to go to graduate school," Campbell says. "I owe a huge debt of gratitude to him."
After college, Campbell, who had loved learning about computers as a teen, went on to pursue master's and doctoral degrees in computer science at UCLA. He had intended to become a college professor until a friend from UCR told him about a project at a defense company called Hughes Aircraft (now Raytheon). They were building a very specialized computer, one that Campbell knew he could contribute to.
"It was exactly the kind of work that I had been doing at UC Riverside," he says.
Campbell, who now has two daughters in college, gives back to the university by serving on the external advisory board of the BCoE Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He says that even as a first-generation student, there was never a question of whether he would go to college. His adoptive, working-class parents were always supportive.
"It was simply, 'Mike wants to go to college? Mike's gonna go to college,'" Campbell says. "I didn't take no for an answer."
Michael's advice for first-generation students: "Talk to lots of different people — people who are older than you, people who are younger than you. Get different perspectives on things. While your parents love you and want the best for you, their view of the world may be too narrow for what you may be doing. If you limit yourself to how they see the world, you might miss out on something."
Cally tat, Freddy lopez, aaron Clark, Jessamine Quijano and Mike Campbell divulge more of their academic journey online. To watch their video, go to ucrmagazinearchive.ucr.edu.
By Ryan Ritchie
Young graduates may want to donate money to UCR — but they simply can't afford to. After all, many don't have a disposable income until they've had a good job for a number of years. And even then, that new car, a move to a different city, or addition to the family can make budgeting every dime important. You may not be familiar with all the ways you can give back to your alma mater. That's an easy fix: Here are ways to get involved in campus activities — without having to shell out the big bucks.
Ryan Ritchie is enrolled in the UC Riverside Palm Desert Master of Fine Arts program for creative writing.
UCR professors who were first in their family to go to college remember the moment their paths changed
Assistant professor of bilingual education
Growing up in Colorado, Orosco's family lived in a very blue-collar environment where the sole focus of existence was making ends meet. "People in my neighborhood weren't thinking or talking about college. They didn't see it as an option," he said. Orosco's father was illiterate — "I had to sign his paycheck for him," he said — but he knew school was important for his children.
One day, his dad took him over to the railroad where he had a job working on the tracks. His dad told Michael, "I don't want you working out here because I want you to go to college."
Orosco pursued that dream not knowing how hard it would be — "not just academically but socially," he said. Mentors were his lifesavers. "I had some good people on the way who helped me. Role models to show me how to tie a tie, to tell me things like you have to wear dress shoes to an interview, not athletic shoes. ... I got my teaching degree because [that became my goal] — I wanted to help students."
Of the five Orosco siblings, four graduated from college. When they first graduated, his parents were proud but a bit in shock. Orosco's first job was as a teacher: "My father thought I was the janitor. He was really happy because I got to work inside, not doing physical labor out in the open." Even today, Orosco's mother can't comprehend that he gets paid to sit in an office and write. Orosco said, "Nobody in our old neighborhood did that!"
Professor of computer science and engineering
Born and raised in Ireland, Keogh was the youngest of nine. His father worked in the Guinness factory, so they lived in a Guinness house. "I was a bad student. On my street, no one had a good job or had an education. The men were tradesmen and women worked in a shop until they got married." Keogh left school at 15 to be a car painter. "I hated it," he said. While visiting a sister in California, he was encouraged to go to college by his sister's in-laws. "It had never occurred to me as I had no siblings that went to college or even finished high school."
Keogh was 19 when he enrolled at the Mira Costa Community College in Oceanside. At Cal State San Marcos, a professor named Rika Yoshii inspired Keogh to get his Ph.D. He credits community colleges with making it easy for him to work and study. "You get the message that you can do anything and I pass it on to my students. ...It's what you can do that matters."
Keogh often goes home to Ireland. "Four of the five other guys who started car painting with me are still there — in the same job, same overalls, same jokes, same cigarettes. While they seem happy enough I can't imagine having that life. In contrast, I have been all over the world, met incredibly interesting people, done things, talked to experts. ... I'm not smarter than they are, it was just luck and a willingness to leave the country, combined with the easier path to third-level education that America provides."
Associate professor, Theatre Department
Tiffany López teaches courses on world drama and U.S. Latino theater, and has been on the faculty at UCR since 1995. López is not only a first-generation college student. As the granddaughter of migrant farmworkers, she is also the first in her family to graduate from high school.
The self-described "accidental academic" was already a Burger King restaurant manager at age 16, and she envisioned earning an A.A. degree so she could become a franchisee. Three instructors at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento encouraged her to transfer to California State University, Sacramento, to earn her bachelor's degree instead.
She enrolled in a program for students who showed promise and were at-risk, and found a mentor in the English Department, Chicana poet Olivia Castellano.
"She created employment for me and transitioned my frame of reference to an institution of higher learning," Lopez said. "She was a poet who trained me to become a professor of literature and to understand the transformative nature of education, and instilled in me the need to understand what it means to be an artist."
After completing her bachelor's degree at CSU Sacramento, Lopez spent a year participating in creative writing workshops with foundational Chicano literary figures such as Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo and Rudolfo Anaya. She went on to earn a master's degree and Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara, where she edited an anthology, "Growing Up Chicana/o" (William Morrow & Co., 1993).
As a scholar and creative artist, López writes essays and books about art and social change; she works with arts spaces in Los Angeles and Riverside (such as the Culver Center) to create opportunities for students, passing on the kind of mentoring and support she received as a student. López credits her education with changing her life and opening paths of possibility for her entire family; one of her nephews is a creative writing student at UCR.
Dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Fifty-five years ago, Marylynn Yates' parents got married right out of high school. They had five children over the course of 10 years — all of whom went to college — but they never went themselves. Still, "there was never a question that we would go," Yates said. The family had an agreement: each child was given $5,000 for higher education. "Expenses other than that were on us," she said. Today, three of the five have Ph.Ds. One has a master's in education, and another a B.S. degree in nursing.
Yates got her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, but graduate school was never part of her plan. "I started working in the hospital, and within three months I was bored to tears," she said. At the time, Yates' husband was getting his master's degree. When she decided to go to grad school, Yates thought she would go part time, but her husband encouraged her to go full time. Soon thereafter, it was clear to Yates that she would pursue a Ph.D.
Now the dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Yates says it's her goal to get students excited about microbiology. "I want them to see that there are options other than medical school if you are interested in infectious diseases — such as public health."
Everyone in Yates' immediate family also pursued higher education. Her son is getting his doctorate in environmental engineering at Pennsylvania State, while her daughter is getting her doctorate in classical studies at UC Irvine. And Yates' parents? "They are as proud as they can be."
By Iqbal Pittalwala
Michael J. Pazzani, UC Riverside's new vice chancellor for research and economic development, has an audacious goal: to triple the external funding to the campus in 10 years from today's $100 million annually. He returns to California from Rutgers University, N.J., where he oversaw sponsored research, technology transfer, corporate partnerships and laboratory services, and more than doubled the federal research expenditures in five years.
A New York City native, he earned his doctoral degree in computer science at UCLA and was on the UC Irvine faculty for 18 years. Like many UCR students, he is a first-generation college graduate. He describes himself as a workaholic, intent on enhancing research on campus in all disciplines, attracting more federal funding, forming partnerships with corporations, and providing research opportunities for students.
We talked to Pazzani in his office one morning in July, his first month on the job. He spoke about his background, why he moved back to the West Coast, and what he's discovered in Riverside.
My family moved from New York City to New Jersey when I was young. I attended the University of Connecticut for my undergraduate studies and started out as a psychology major. But then I switched to a mathematics major. Subsequently, computer science got my attention. For the past two decades or so, my research has involved psychology, computer science and statistics. My focus is on machine learning — finding patterns in data. Its numerous applications include how companies like Amazon and Netflix predict what products you will like, discovering new genes and identifying which genes are linked to certain diseases.
I wanted to make a contribution on a much larger scale, paint on a bigger canvas. I knew I could be a catalyst in helping other people in their research. To help faculty, I met them in person to get to know their work and better connect with them. By moving to academic leadership, I was move to able to get more undergraduates to engage in research by encouraging faculty to extend opportunities in their research labs to undergraduate students also. Time management, I quickly learned, is a big challenge in academic leadership positions. You end up sacrificing your research to help other researchers. I do, however, plan to continue doing my research in data mining at UCR.
It is an excellent opportunity to make a contribution. The university's strategic plan "UCR 2020" contains an ambitious vision for research. I am excited about working with the entire UCR community on this plan. I will concentrate on securing more external funding for the campus and on serving as a strong advocate for research and scholarship in all disciplines — from the arts and humanities, to science and engineering, to mathematics. Already, I have begun to meet faculty at the rate of two per day. This is so I quickly get familiar with our research strengths and potential.
The research being done here at UCR — ranging from the study of invasive pests to the localization of sound to the designing of new chips — is tremendously exciting. I expect in a few years our external funding for research will exceed the support we get from the state. I see my role as a matchmaker, tasked with pairing faculty with funding agencies in Washington, D.C. I think one way to boost economic development here in inland Southern California is to match our faculty and students with companies in the region and beyond. I plan also to increase grant-writing assistance to our faculty. I plan to facilitate more trips to Washington for them so they better understand federal agencies and their workings. And, as I've mentioned, I would like to see more research opportunities for our undergraduate students so they get the best out of a public education. I believe strongly in public education. I benefited enormously from it. I credit the education I received with my founding a startup company that provided personalized mobile content and becoming a professor of computer science and an academic leader at universities.
On workdays, I invest eight hours in the office and also a few hours before breakfast and again from about 7 p.m. to midnight. I also work on the weekends. Why? Because many of our faculty put in such hours, and I think it is important that academic leadership follows their example. When I'm not working, I enjoy bird-watching and have connected with local bird-watchers. Riverside, I am discovering, is a hidden gem. I'm thoroughly enjoying exploring the city's ethnic restaurants, its cultural offerings, its diverse communities. I'm looking at the moment to purchase a house in the city — a city that feels like home to me. I've called Southern California home for some 25 years, and it's great to be back.
By Sean Nealon
When Kawai Tam, a lecturer at UC Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering, started entering student teams in design competitions seven years ago, she had to ask around the college for candidates.
Today, students approach her. In fact, so many approach her that she now requires prospective students to submit an essay outlining why they would make a good team member.
That's what happens when you have success with the design competitions.
Since 2005, teams of Tam's students have received 24 awards at competitions throughout the nation. The prize money has totaled more than $225,000. Of that, $120,000 was won in the past year alone. And two ideas created by recent winning teams — one for a solar thermal clothes dryer and the other for a reusable storm drain filter and indicator — could be commercialized. What's remarkable is that Tam fostered all this success as a volunteer.
"The competitions are a great way to build the UCR brand, help UCR gain national recognition and enrich our students' experience in the field," said Tam, who estimates she competitions. "Plus, we have a great chemical and environmental engineering program."
In 1996, Tam was in a Ph.D. program at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, when her husband accepted a job in Ontario, Calif. She set up an arrangement where she did her research at UCR but earned her Ph.D. from McGill. (At the time, UCR didn't offer a Ph.D. in engineering.)
While completing her Ph.D., she taught at UCR and realized teaching was her passion. She completed her Ph.D. in 2002 and stayed at UCR as a full-time lecturer.
In that role, Tam teaches senior design — a class in which students propose, design, build and test environmental engineering devices or design full-scale chemical processes or systems.
Competition entries, including the Southern California World Water Forum, which is co-sponsored and organized by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, often become projects for the course and research opportunities for underclassmen.
The competition has been held three times; each time, UCR has had a winning team.
Benita Lynn Horn, Metropolitan's coordinator of the World Water Forum, said Tam is successful because she keeps abreast of water conservation and environmental issues. She also works with students to develop innovative ideas. Horn, a former high school teacher, calls Tam a hero who inspires her students to achieve.
"She is just a very gifted educator," Horn said. "She really has a heart for her students."
Temitope "Temi" A. Ogunyoku was a member of Tam's first award-winning team.
That team — which also included Greg Guillen, Andrew Chin, Steven Gebelin and Roland Cusick — won $10,000 grants from the World Water Forum and the Environmental Protection Agency: People, Prosperity and the Planet competition in Washington, D.C. Their project focused on the feasibility of collecting rainwater from industrial building rooftops in Southern California.
Ogunyoku, who earned her Ph.D. from UC Davis and is now a post-doctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, says Tam allowed her to find her passion: working on environmental issues in developing countries.
"That was definitely the start," Ogunyoku said. "She was the determining factor for me to continue on my career path."
Since Ogunyoku's team won the Environmental Protection Agency competition, teams advised by Tam have been honored 11 times at the event.
Over those years, Tam has learned to recognize the attributes judges want to see in projects: They should be inexpensive, sustainable, immediately available, innovative and perform well.
Mark Matsumoto, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UC Riverside and faculty advisor for many of Tam's student teams, has seen that firsthand.
"With experience, she has learned a formula for winning," he said. "It also helps that she's very supportive of her students, sets high expectations and motivates them."
This year, like Ogunyoku's team, Estevan "Steven" Ochoa, Jung "JJ" Park, David Ye He, Jason Farag and Christopher Quach won the Environmental Protection Agency and World Water Forum contests. Their project focuses on using the sun and a Fresnel lens — commonly found in old projection big-screen televisions — to make water safe to drink.
Ochoa and Quach, who graduated from UCR in June, approached Tam during the summer before their senior year about entering design competitions. They did so based on the advice of a team of students who previously worked with Tam.
That team — Jesse S. Lozano, Etinosa J. Agbonwaneten, Ariana E. Villanueva, Stephen R. Opot, Kenny Chau and Nhat Nguyen – was the first led by Tam to win the Environmental Protection Agency: People, Prosperity and the Planet phase two grant for $90,000. (They had previously won the $15,000 phase one award.)
The team won for their solar thermal clothes dryer, a system they estimate could save a homeowner $6,500 over 20 years
Several members of the team (who have all graduated) and some current UCR students are refining the design, hoping to commercialize it.
Tam's teams have also been honored five times at the WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development competition in Las Cruces, N.M.
This year a team won a first-place award and also the top prize, the Intel Environmental Innovation Award, for the reusable storm drain oil filter and indicator they designed completely out of recycled materials. The team consists of Sarah Bates, Elizabeth Horstman, Thomas Alan Kwan and Shanin Quazi.
Kwan, who graduated in June and is now attending Yale University for his Ph.D., said Tam asks questions to get students to jump to the next step on their own.
Kwan said he really got to know Tam during the 13-hour drive to and from New Mexico.
Like Kwan, he learned Tam was a fan of mixed martial arts. He also discovered she plays golf, has a pool table at her home and likes to go to rock concerts. Recent shows have included Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Nickelback.
"It was during that time that she transformed from Dr. Tam the hardcore professor to a friend," Kwan said.
The following inventions have won awards and grants from design competitions such as the Southern California World Water Forum; the Environmental Protection Agency: People, Prosperity and the Planet; and WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development.
The Pasteurization Using a Lens and Solar Energy (PULSE) method uses a Fresnel lens – which is essentially a large magnifying glass, but thinner, lighter and made of acrylic – and sunlight to pasteurize water.
The system consists of a solar-powered attic fan diverting solar thermal heat from a rooftop solar heat collector and hot air from the attic, to a retrofitted closet that serves as a clothes dryer. It could save a homeowner nearly $6,500 over 20 years.
To prevent contaminated runoff such as oil from entering storm drains, the Sustain-a-Drain team has developed a system involving an indicator — a plastic test tube-like device that hooks on a storm grate — that allows for easy inspection and replacement. Made of 100 percent recycled textiles, the filter sits in a galvanized steel mesh basket, and can be wrung, washed and reused.
Tam's students designed a fuel cell system that can be used to generate power using hydrogen, or as an electrolyzer to split water to generate hydrogen. The system can be used to store and generate electricity for remote communities.
Tam's students developed a process that converts municipal solid waste (MSW) into ethanol to use as fuel. MSW-ethanol can help address waste disposal challenges, add to the world's energy resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security.
Kawai tam was also a first-generation college student. To read her story, go to ucrmagazinearchive.ucr.edu.
Native American historian Clifford Trafzer came to UCR in 1991 to create the curriculum for a bachelor's degree in American Indian Studies in the Ethnic Studies Department. Later, Professor Rebecca Kugel and Trafzer created a master's and Ph.D. program in the Department of History, where Trafzer now holds the Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs. Trafzer talks about what the chair has meant, UCR's new effort to steer native American youth to higher education, and his upcoming book on how Western and native American medicine intersected in Southern California.
Often. I have to explain to people who Rupert Costo — not "Costco" — was. He was a local Cahuilla Indian; he and his wife, Jeanette, endowed the chair because they were interested in people delving deeper into Native American history than simply using documents. Rupert always was a supporter of doing oral histories and learning about Native American communities, culture, music, dance, art and storytelling.
I earned my Ph.D. in 1973 and never had research funding to the degree that the chair has provided. It allows me to travel to Native American communities and learn from tribal elders. I was doing that, but on a more limited basis. But equally as important, I use the funds to help students with fee fellowships, paying their fees of about $6,000 per quarter. The Costo funds have allowed us to recruit Native American students at a higher level, not just the bachelor's degree. Anthony Madrigal, for example, is the first Cahuilla person to earn a Ph.D. in Native American history. I know that Rupert Costo would be so thrilled to know that local Cahuilla people and other Southern California Indians are earning the Ph.D.
I am Wyandot from Ohio through my mom and her father. I am German on my father's side of the family. I've always been interested in Native American history and our family's history. Our family moved to Yuma, Ariz., when I was 11, and I played sports with Native Americans from the Fort Yuma reservation. Later, I conducted oral histories there. Last year, I started a project with the Army, which has a huge military base at the Yuma Proving Ground. They hired me to interact with the Quechan tribe to site their sacred places on the base, places the Army ought to avoid and not destroy.
It was a surprise to everyone. It was at the chancellor's Native American Education Summit, and Inland-area tribes had been invited to talk about Indian education. People had lots of ideas about how we could have more contact between universities and Native Americans. The chancellor heard what was being said and said, "We can do better," and made the unexpected announcement.
Jubilation. How wonderful that the administration will provide money for outreach without being asked. The chancellor saw the need and decided this is the right thing to do. Higher education is foreign to most Native American communities. It is something somebody else does. How can we convey the excitement of coming to college, any college? We're going to do it the modern way, through websites, Facebook and videos.
I've been researching [the subject] since 1996, when I wrote a book called "Death Stalks the Yakama," about a confederated tribe in Washington State of 14 tribes and bands. I had wanted to do something other than a tribal history, and in the Pacific Northwest branch of the National Archives in Seattle, I found 4,000 death certificates from the Yakama reservation from 1886 through 1964. I knew that no one had ever researched and written a study on mortality over time on any reservation, so I quantified all the information in the death certificates on age, gender, cause of death and where they died.
I decided to replicate this research in Southern California and take on a much larger geographic area. It's huge. There were 29 reservations in the Mission Indian Agency and eight different tribes: Kumeyaay, Cupeño. Luiseno, Serrano, Cahuilla, Chumash, Yokuts and Chemehuevi. I found all their birth and death records from 1924 to 1948 at the National Archives Pacific Southwest Region.
What I saw was that infectious diseases such as pneumonia, influenza and especially tuberculosis, which was so terrible among Indians, declined in the early 1930s, along with infant mortality. The number of deaths caused by tuberculosis declined well before the introduction of streptomycin, the effective antibiotic for the disease.
What accounts for this? In going through the records I happened to hit upon one year, 1928, where I found a field nurse's report. This is exciting as a historian because the Bureau of Indian Affairs had been greatly criticized in a national investigation from 1924 to 1928 in what was called the Merriam Report. The report slammed the bureau, saying the bureau's medical division was supposed to take care of their Indian charges and was supposed to keep statistics. What few statistics had been kept showed terrible disease and death on Indian reservations and widespread infant mortality that was far worse than other places.
One of the things the report recommended was to hire professional public health nurses. In 1928 the first public health service nurse, Florence McClintock, arrived on the Morongo reservation.
But I asked myself, why did Native Americans allow numerous white women into their homes? I started asking elders. And some of them were old enough to remember the field nurses. For example, Catherine Siva Saubel, who just died this year, had known Florence McClintock and some of the other nurses. Catherine told me it made common sense to allow nurses to enter their homes and teach about microbes. She said, "These are bacterial and viral diseases that came from non-Indians, and they would know how to treat these diseases. Our medicine people might be able to work on the symptoms to help relieve the symptoms but not the causes."
Absolutely. That's what we're doing here. We're creating future scholars in Native American history. UCR has a unique place within the university systems of the world. Many students come here to study Native American history because they feel that this is the best place to research the field and earn the Ph.D.
Clifford Trafzer was also the first in his family to go to college. To read more of his story, go to ucrmagazinearchive.ucr.edu
By David K. Randall ('03 B.A.) W. W. Norton & Co. August 2012, 304 pages
Like many of us, journalist David K. Randall never gave sleep much thought. That is, until he began sleepwalking. One midnight crash into a hallway wall sent him on an investigation into the strange science of sleep.
In "Dreamland," Randall explores the research into those dark hours that make up nearly a third of our lives. Taking readers from military battlefields to children's bedrooms, "Dreamland" shows that sleep isn't as simple as it seems. Why did the results of one sleep study change the bookmakers' odds for certain Monday Night Football games? Do women sleep differently than men? And if you happen to kill someone while you are sleepwalking, does that count as murder? The book is a tour of the often odd, sometimes disturbing, and fascinating things that go on while we sleep.
Randall is an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University.
By Brendan C. Lindsay ('04 M.A., '07 Ph.D.) University of Nebraska Press June 2012, 456 pages
In the second half of the 19th century, the Euro-American citizens in California carried out mass genocide against the Native American population to secure land and resources for themselves. The murder, rape and enslavement of thousands of Native people were legitimized by notions of democracy through a discreetly organized and brutally effective series of petitions, referenda, town hall meetings and votes at every level of California government.
"Murder State" is a comprehensive examination of these events and their early legacy. In this narrative history, Brendan C. Lindsay examines the dark side of California history — one that is rarely studied in detail — using numerous primary sources and the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on genocide. "Murder State" explores the motives of both Native Americans and Euro-Americans at the time and calls attention to the misuse of democracy to justify and commit genocide.
Lindsay is a lecturer of history at the University of Central Florida.
By Larry Bjornson ('73 B.A., '75 M.P.A.) Berkley Trade June 2012, 384 pages
Abilene, 1871. Will Merritt is fiercely protective of the cattle trade that made his father's fortune. Idolizing the cowboys who flood the streets each summer, Will and his friends are drawn to Abilene's exotic Texas town district — a powder keg of saloons and brothels so notorious that the mayor has hired the West's most famous gunman, Wild Bill Hickok, to police its streets. Yet even with Hickok as marshal, Abilene boils with deep divisions. The townsfolk resent the migrant settlers whose new farms are slicing up the rangeland. And no one is more intolerant than Will's best friend, Jasper, who delights in tormenting any farmer he encounters. But Will finds himself torn when he meets the beautiful and beguiling Anna, whose dignity and determination test his deepest beliefs.
Bjornson is a writer living in Southern California.
By Elizabeth Leonard ('92, Ph.D.) University of North Carolina Press October 2011, 448 pages
In "Lincoln's Forgotten Ally," Leonard writes a full-scale biography of General Joseph Holt, a character often overlooked and misunderstood by historians and students of the war. As the administration's chief arbiter and enforcer of military law, Holt strove to implement Lincoln's wartime policies (such as emancipation), often against strong resistance. After Lincoln was assassinated, Holt pursued — and brought to justice — everyone involved in John Wilkes Booth's conspiracy. Holt dedicated both his energy and his influence to ensuring that the federal victory would bring about lasting positive change for the nation. The book seeks to restore him to his rightful place in American memory.
Leonard is the John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History at Colby College.
By Matthew R. Des Lauriers ('01 M.A., '05 Ph.D.) University of Utah Press December 2010, 248 pages
Isla Cedros — Island of Fogs — is the location of some of the most extensive and remarkable archaeological discoveries on the continent. Located off the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, two sites dated from more than 12,000 years ago have been excavated. Portions of two large village sites dated to the last 1,000 years have been unearthed as well. Among the artifacts discovered are the earliest fishhooks found on the continent.
Drawing on 10 years of his own historical, ethnographic and archaeological research, Matthew Des Lauriers uses Isla Cedros to form hypotheses regarding the ecological, economic and social nature of island societies. By examining whether human populations can intensively harvest natural resources without causing ecological collapse, "Island of Fogs" provides a relevant historical counterpart to modern discussions of ecological change and alternative models for sustainable development.
Des Lauriers is an associate professor of anthropology at California State University, Northridge.
By Andrew F. Smith ('72, M.A.) University of California Press August 2012, 264 pages
In a lively account of the American tuna industry over the past century, celebrated food writer and scholar Andrew F. Smith relates how tuna went from being sold primarily as a fertilizer to becoming the most commonly consumed fish in the country. In "American Tuna," the so-called "chicken of the sea" is both the subject and the backdrop for other facets of American history: U.S. foreign policy, immigration and environmental politics, and dietary trends.
Smith recounts how tuna became a popular low-cost high-protein food beginning in 1903, when the first can rolled off the assembly line. By 1918, skyrocketing sales made it one of America's most popular seafoods. In the decades that followed, the American tuna industry employed thousands, yet at mid-century production started to fade. Concerns about toxic levels of methylmercury, by-catch issues and over-harvesting all contributed to the demise of the industry. Today, only three major canned tuna brands exist in the United States — all of them owned by foreign companies.
Smith is a lecturer on food and culinary history at the New School University in New York.
By Mark Rawitsch ('77, M.A.) University Press of Colorado July 2012, 426 pages
In 1915, Jukichi and Ken Harada purchased a house on Lemon Street in Riverside. Close to their restaurant, their church and children's school, the house should have been a safe and healthy family home. White neighbors objected to the sale because of the Haradas' Japanese ancestry, and the California Alien Land Law denied them real-estate ownership because they were not citizens. To bypass the law, Harada bought the house in the names of his three youngest children, who were American-born citizens. Neighbors protested again, and the first Japanese-American court test of the California Alien Land Law of 1913 — The People of the State of California v. Jukichi Harada — was the result.
"The House on Lemon Street" details the Haradas' fight for the American dream, and chronicles their experiences from immigration to the United States through their legal battle over their home. The little-known story also details their incarceration in a concentration camp during World War II and the Haradas' lives after the war.
Rawitsch is the dean of instruction at Mendocino College and a founding member of the Harada House National Historic Landmark Ad-Hoc Advisory Council of the city of Riverside.
By Frances Fernandes
As UC chancellors puzzle over how to make ends meet if the state fails to solve its funding issues, the UC Board of Regents has come down in favor of a governor-sponsored initiative that would raise sales and some income taxes to help eliminate the deficit.
On July 18, the UC Board of Regents endorsed Proposition 30, which would raise roughly $8.5 billion through temporary increases in the state sales tax and the personal income tax rate paid by those earning $250,000 or more. President Mark G. Yudof and Board Chair Sherry Lansing have declared their personal support for Gov. Brown's initiative.
If this and other initiatives on the ballot fail, the university is looking at a possible $375 million in budget cuts.
In an act of faith that the voters would save the day, the regents also agreed to freeze mandatory systemwide student charges at 2011-12 levels.
The measure appears to be garnering marginal voter support, according to statewide polls, which also indicate that a competing initiative, Proposition 38 Tax for Education and Early Childhood Programs (the Munger Initiative), is losing support.
If both measures succeed in garnering more than 50 percent of the vote, only the initiative with most votes would go into effect.
Should Proposition 30 fail, both UC and the California State University system would see state appropriations automatically cut by $250 million in January. UC would also lose an additional $125.4 million in state funds that lawmakers pledged to include in the 2013-14 budget in exchange for holding mandatory systemwide student charges at current levels.
Nathan Brostrom, executive vice president for business operations, told the Board of Regents that the possible loss of $375 million in state funds would come on top of nearly $1 billion that California has cut from UC's budget over the past four years. Over that same period, UC's costs have risen by $1.22 billion.
The prospect of possible new cuts creates a worrisome scenario for UC Riverside administrators who have undergone severe belt-tightening in recent years.
Two large budget reductions to hit UCR over the past couple of years have resulted in staff losses, unfilled vacancies, larger class sizes, fewer student advisers and fewer faculty. Any new cuts would be evaluated by their impact on the academic enterprise, said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Dallas Rabenstein.
"We must . . . maintain strength and excellence where we have it," he said. "It takes many years to build up a department or discipline to where it has achieved academic excellence, but it can be reduced to mediocrity quickly with bad budget decisions."
And among those to suffer would be the students, Rabenstein said. In addition, the resulting hit on morale and reduced confidence in the UC system would also affect both faculty and staff.
UC faculty salaries lag behind comparable institutions by nearly 11 percent, systemwide administrators told the Regents in July.
To date, UC has relied on tuition and fee increases to cover a third of the budget gap. The other two thirds have come from administrative efficiencies and cuts to academic programs. Campuses have eliminated or consolidated 180 programs; more than 4,200 staff have been laid off and an estimated 9,500 faculty and staff positions have been left unfilled or eliminated.
As costs continue to rise, UC's budget shortfall could grow to as much as $2.9 billion in five years if revenues remain at current levels, Brostrom said.
*Revenue estimates vary due to volatility of personal income tax revenues.
We asked alumni on Facebook: What advice would you give to this year's
incoming freshman class? Here are 15 tips and tricks for survival.
"Like" our UCR Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UCRiverside and look for future questions!
Party a little bit, study a lot. Stephen Scherb '76
Make the most of your time there. Get involved in something — anything. Take advantage of every second. Britt Hardy '10
Know that you are among a diverse set of people from different walks of life. Be open to new ways of thought. Chris Colin '12
Make some bad decisions; this is the best time to get them out of the way. Edward Lixandru '12
The most important thing I learned as a freshman was critical thinking: "Do I wear the dirty shirt or do I wear the smelly shirt?" My hygiene improved dramatically after the first quarter. John Choi '07
Advice as an alumna: Always keep in mind why you are in college. Take it seriously. This isn't high school. It's so easy to drop your GPA, but it's difficult to bring it back up. Advice as a current teaching advisor at UCR: Don't be afraid to ask for help. There are many resources for students that are free! Don't wait until the last minute to seek help. We love helping students. Ashley Cacho '10
Don't park where you are not supposed to or you will get a ticket. Mafel Lopez '11
Study abroad! Angie M. Delarosa '08
Nurture your spiritual life. If you have a faith tradition, there will be other students who can share that with you. Some may have services or activities on or around campus. Also, volunteer for an organization that serves others, whether it be feeding the homeless or tutoring a kid who can't do math well. William Malecki '87
Enjoy these years to the fullest. Make new friends. Try new things. And most importantly, learn! Don't forget what you are there to do! Jaclyn Fuentes '09
Study diligently each day, but try to work in some exercise and fun activities. Frank Freeman '58
Keep track of your graduation requirements from the beginning. Don't be shy and make some friends. Getting involved in something is a great way to make friends! And make sure to study. Brian Lopez '11
Take those classes you don't think you'll like for your breadth requirement. Lyn Stephenson '10
Have the best time of your life but never forget the main reason why you are there. Harold olivo '03
Wear a skirt on hot days, regardless of gender. Konrad nagy '12
By David Kisailus
Assistant Professor of Engineering
The stomatopod, also known as the mantis shrimp, is a 4-inch-long crustacean that resembles an armored caterpillar.
The mantis shrimp club accelerates underwater faster than a 22-caliber bullet. The strike is so powerful that we keep the mantis shrimp in a special aquarium so it doesn't break the glass.
Repeated blows by the club can destroy mollusk shells and crab exoskeletons. And the club can withstand 50,000 high-velocity strikes on prey during its lifespan.
We found a highly complex structure comprised of three specialized regions that work together to create a material tougher than many engineered ceramics.
The first region is located at the end of the club that actually impacts the prey. It contains a high concentration of mineral similar to that found in human bone that supports the impact when the mantis shrimp strikes prey. Inside, highly organized and rotated layers of organic fibers act as a shock absorber. The final layer is a wrapping of these same oriented organic fibers, which keeps it intact during these high velocity impacts.
Much of materials engineering is focused on creating strong, lightweight and tough materials.
There are many potential materials that could be developed based on the structure of the club. Our lab is primarily focused on military body armor, which can add 30 pounds to a service member's load. Our goal is to develop a material that is one-third the weight and thickness of existing body armor, but with enhanced properties.
There are also potential applications in vehicle and aircraft frames. For example, if electric cars weigh less, they consume less power, and people will be able to drive them farther. With airplanes, less weight would reduce fuel costs, and better impact resistance would improve reliability and cut repair bills.
*Portions of this interview appeared in "The Academic Minute," a production of Northeast Public Radio. www.academicminute.org
To watch a video of the stomatopod in action, go to ucrmagazinearchive.ucr.edu
The Alumni Association is proud to announce that the Student Alumni Association (SAA) was named UCR's Outstanding Student Organization of the Year. With more than 400 organizations on campus, that is quite an honor! The mission of SAA is to connect current students with alumni for career-building purposes. If you would like to get involved helping future alumni and volunteer for one of our career conferences, our Dinners with Alumni program, or our Student Alumni Mentorship program, visit the Alumni Association web page and click on "Get Involved."
Join fellow alumni and fans at a special pre-game reception and then cheer on the Highlander men's basketball team to victory at these select games:
Chicago, Ill.: Nov. 11, 2012 vs. University of Illinois - Chicago
Fullerton: Jan. 12, 2013 vs. Cal State Fullerton
Davis: Jan. 26, 2013 vs. UC Davis
Long Beach: Feb. 16, 2013 vs. Long Beach State
Visit the Alumni Association website and click on "Alumni Events" for more information and a complete listing of events in your area.
Join the UCR Alumni Association for a travel adventure in 2013 to stimulate your intellect and curiosity.
Visit the UCR Alumni Association's website (alumni.ucr.edu/travel) to view pricing and program details. Tour participants, whether UCR alumni or not, must be members of the UCR Alumni Association. Each member may bring one travel companion as a guest.
The UCR Alumni Association is accepting applications to serve on the board of directors. The Alumni Association was established with the first graduating class in 1955. It exists to preserve and promote the relationships between UCR and its more than 90,000 alumni. The association provides alumni opportunities to promote the growth and prestige of UCR through its various programs such as legislative advocacy, scholarship selection, alumni recognition and networking activities.
To serve on the board, individuals must be a graduate of UCR and a current member of the UCR Alumni Association. Applications are available online at alumni.ucr.edu or by contacting the Alumni Association.
The deadline to apply is Jan. 7, 2013.
Homecoming offers something for everyone, including Highlander Tailgate, Homecoming basketball game, Back to Class (the academic side to Homecoming), Hike to the "C," alumni author book reading, cooking demonstration, Botanic Gardens tour, HEAT Music Festival, tours and more!
Featured alumni reunions include University Honors 25th Anniversary, CHASS Connect 10th Anniversary and UCR Ambassadors program. Don't miss this chance to see old friends and make new ones. For more information visit www.alumni.ucr.edu/homecoming
Join us for a special opening reception for two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Breen ('92, B.A., '94 T.C.) on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Alumni & Visitors Center. His award-winning editorial cartoons will be on display in the Goldware Family Library. In addition, Breen will sign copies of his children's books, "Stick" (2007), "Violet the Pilot" (2008) and "The Secret of Santa's Island" (2009).
Breen credits his time at the Highlander newspaper with helping him on his path to professional cartooning. He has been the editorial cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune since 2001. His work is nationally syndicated by Creators News and regularly appears in USA Today, The New York Times and Newsweek. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning (1998, 2009).
In his spare time Breen enjoys writing and illustrating children's books. To RSVP for his opening art reception and book signing, please call (951) 827-2586.
How to contact the UCR Alumni Association:
Website: alumni.ucr.edu
E-mail: ucralum@ucr.edu
Phone: (951) UCR-ALUM or
(800) 426-ALUM (2586)
'59 W. raymond duncan recently published a novel on Kindle. The book, titled "Trespassers," follows the story of Professor Neal McGrath, who is working with the CIA to investigate terrorist activities taking place on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. McGrath, a former Special Forces officer who has previously worked with Langley, has valuable contacts in Mexico City. To add to the tension, the beautiful CIA operative Elena Rodríguez, with whom McGrath shares a romantic and dangerous past, is assigned to work with him. Together they unearth a deadly international conspiracy that puts their lives in danger at every turn.
'70 Walter Hillabrant is the past president for the District of Columbia Psychological Association (DCPA). He serves as the DCPA representative to the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association.
'71 Robert Fordan was promoted from associate to full professor of communication at Central Washington University, where he teaches broadcast journalism. He was also awarded a sabbatical for 2013 to research issues related to mass media and politics.
'72 Michael Turelli is a theoretical biologist whose basic research has been applied to help stop the spread of dengue fever. He is a distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology and was recently selected for the 2012 Faculty Research Lecture Award. The award is theAcademic Senate's highest accolade and recognizes outstanding scholarly research. He earned his doctorate in biomathematics at the University of Washington in 1977, and joined the UC Davis faculty
shortly after.
'75 Frank Ardolino recently retired from the University of Hawaii where he taught Shakespeare and modern drama for 35 years. He is the author of two books on the Elizabethan dramatist Thomas Kyd and has published numerous articles on literary subjects ranging from classical times through topics on the 20th century ... Jeff shaffer has a new column on a website operated by Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. The column, called "The Shelf Talker," focuses on his personal world of store experiences. Jeff is an accomplished writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. He has also worked in radio and TV news, with stints at KPIX-TV in San Francisco and KPTV in Portland, Ore.
'79 Edward Kolb is the medical director for Boys Town National Research Hospital and Clinics. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from UCLA, completed residency training in pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle, and his residency training in anesthesiology at the University of California, San Diego. He is board certified in pediatrics and anesthesiology. After joining the Hospital in 2006, he served as the medical director of Boys Town National Research Hospital – West, director of the International Adoption Clinic, and director of the Craniofacial – Cleft Lip and Palate Team. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Nebraska Society of Anesthesiologists (serving as president from 2000-2001) and Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, among others.
'78 Dean Alger recently published "The Bankers' Greed Blues," a book focused on Wall Street, politics, economics, public opinion and a vision for new directions. The book employs public opinion evidences coordinated with issues and political developments. Dean is the author of other books, including "Primary Colors" and "CROSSTALK: Citizens, Candidates and Media in a Presidential Campaign." In addition to his published works, Dean has taught public opinion at the University of Minnesota, worked with major pollsters, and has served as adviser and consultant on various political campaigns. "The Bankers' Greed Blues" is available on Amazon.com and from national book distributors.
'82 Lance Adair has joined Kring & Chung LLP in Irvine as Of Council. Lance will be continuing his business in real estate and land use litigation. He has received the AV-Preeminent rating, which is the highest professional rating awarded by Martindale Hubbel for attorneys.
'85 Beth Yeager is the art education director at the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. She is in charge of planning and implementing the youth of adult education programs, such as "Art to Go," which brings art into the classroom, and the museum's "Walk & Wonder" tours. Prior to her career in art education, she was an elementary school teacher and was honored as Teacher of the Year at Alcott Elementary. She has served on the board of directors for the California Riverside Ballet and the Arts Advisory Board with Riverside Unified School District. Beth is a graduate of the 2012 class for Leadership Riverside.
87 Steven Fontes is the founder of Mission Property Advisors Inc., a Riverside-based commercial real estate firm providing appraisal, brokerage and consulting services. The firm specializes in the appraisal and brokerage of commercial and industrial real estate, as well as vacant land throughout Southern California. As a veteran of the real estate industry for more than 25 years, Steven has been qualified as an expert witness in several Southern California counties where he has testified on numerous occasions. In 2009 he served as the 77th president of the Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. Steven recently graduated from the Leadership Riverside Program.
'90 Brian Hawley is the co-founder of Luminex Software, a Riverside-based technology company. Luminex recently opened a Hong Kong subsidiary, which marks the company's first international office. The company reported revenues of more than $10 million in 2010 and was on track to increase that by 50 percent for 2011. Brian is also chairman of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
'92 Matthew Blumkin became a principal in The Greenspan Co./ Adjusters International, the largest public adjusting company on the West Coast. Matthew has practiced law in California since 1995 and has been working with the Greenspan Co. since 2007. Matthew works out of the corporates offices in Encino... Ken Chamberlain is the editor of National Journal, one of the premier news organizations in Washington, D.C. ... michael lane graduated from the Leadership Riverside program in June. Michael currently serves as the chief of police for the University of California Police Department (UCPD) at UCR. Prior to becoming police chief, Michael served as an assistant chief. UCPD operates 24 hours a day and provides a full range of police-related services focusing on the campus and the surrounding area. ... min Tran was named the Napa County counsel, replacing Robert Westmeyer who is retiring after 24 years. Min has served as the assistant county counsel since July 2009. As county counsel, he will lead an office of 13 attorneys who represent the county. Min also previously worked as deputy county counsel for Riverside County
'94 Brian McGowan is the president/CEO of Atlanta Development Authority (Invest Atlanta). Brian was previously U.S. deputy assistant secretary of commerce and COO for the U.S. Economic Development Administration. He also worked with the White House from July to November 2010 to establish and lead the Economic Solutions Group within the National Incident Command to help communities along the Gulf Coast mitigate the economic impacts of the BP oil spill. Prior to this, Brian was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and served as California's deputy secretary for economic development and commerce in the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, and was appointed as the Economic Development Agency administrator for the County of San Bernardino, overseeing four departments focused on economic development, community development and housing, redevelopment, and work force development.
'96 Richard Ericson is a senior vice president with Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate in downtown Riverside. He has been a broker for 15 years. He finished in the Top Five producers for the Lee & Associates Riverside office, and was designated a Power Broker for six straight years by CoStar, the leading commercial real estate information forum. Richard has extensive experience with landlord and tenant representation throughout the Inland Empire. He recently graduated from the Leadership Riverside program.
'97 Anthony Shay was promoted to associate professor at Pomona Valley College. He teaches the history of social dance and dancing in the Balkans. He co-edited "When Men Dance: Dancing Across Cultural Borders" (2009) and wrote "Dancing Across Borders: The American Fascination with Exotic Dance Forms" (2008). His honors include a fellowship for research in China from the Rockefeller Foundation Trust for Mutual Understanding (2008); a Distinguished Scholar Award from the Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage; and the Texas Folk Dance Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.
'99 Joan Roberts owns an awardwinning homecare agency, Visiting Angels of Riverside County. She is the author of "How to Find a Caregiver for Your Parent: A Guide to Assist You." She began her career as a speech pathologist, working with the elderly in skilled nursing facilities, convalescent centers and hospitals. She also worked in public education as a speech pathologist, a coordinator for special education services, a director of special education and a special education local-plan area director. In addition, she served as an assistant professor of speech pathology and clinical supervisor at the University of Redlands. Joan is a graduate of Leadership Riverside.
'01 Phillip Gragg joined Concordia University School of Law as the director of the law library last June. He provides leadership in designing, implementing, assessing and managing the George R. White Law Library. Previously, Phillip was the associate director for public services and an adjunct professor of legal research at Louisiana State University's Paul M. Herbert Law Center in Baton Rouge, La. Phillip has also served as a judicial clerk for Iowa's 8th District. He also garnered experience working in the Office of Student Legal Services, representing university students.
'02 Carol Kwang Park ('11 M.F.A.) wrote the film "The 1992 LA Riots: Reflections on Our Future," which made its debut at UCR in "Riots, Uprising and Unfinished Business," a symposium focusing on race relations 20 years after the LA Riots. ... mia green was one of eight young scholars to participate in the Criminal Justice Summer Research Institute at the Ohio State University. She is currently studying the impact race and class have on pretrial release decisions in misdemeanor courts. She received her Ph.D. in 2009 from the City University of New York's Graduate Center in Criminal Justice.
'04 Ruben Quesada ('07 M.F.A.) began as an assistant professor of English at Eastern Illinois University. His debut book of poetry, "Next Extinct Mammal," was published by Greenhouse Review Press in 2011. Ruben's criticism and poetry have appeared in or are forthcoming in the California Journal of Poetics, the American Poetry Review, Rattle, Cimarron Review, Southern California Review, as well as others. His translations of Luis Cernuda and Pablo Neruda have appeared in Stand Magazine and Third Coast, as well as in a chapbook, "Exiled from the Throne of Night" (2008), from Aureole Press at the University of Toledo (Ohio). Ruben holds a Ph.D. in English from Texas Tech University, where he also taught literature and creative writing.
'05 Theresa Navarrro is the producer and actress in "YES WE'RE OPEN," which follows the story of Luke and Sylvia as they navigate their way through love. The story played at the Annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture in May. ... melissa stoll was named as head women's cross country/track and field coach at Southern Connecticut State University in June. Prior to this, Melissa served as assistant cross country/track and field coach at Manhattan College. Melissa began her coaching career at UCR after a decorated four-year career as a student athlete. She served as a two-year team captain for the Highlanders and was a member of the team's nationally ranked 4x800 meter and distance medley relay units. Melissa is also a member of the NCAA Women's Coaches Academy and the National Association of Collegiate Women's Athletics Administrators.
'06 Eric Riehle was named as the new men's and women's golf coach at UCR. Riehle played for UCR from 2001-2005 and was an all-conference selection three times. Eric has served as the head coach for the University of La Verne, where his teams won the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference title for the four years he has served as coach.
'07 Jacqueline Avila ('12 Ph.D.) is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee. She teaches a survey course in music history, a history of film music. Recently she was invited to participate in the Riverside County Library lecture series "California Reads: Searching for Democracy," where she presented a survey on protest music of the 1930s. Jacqueline's music background began when she mastered playing the French horn and later played with the Symphonic Orchestra at UCLA. ... Ernie Rios is the co-founder and program director of Coachella Valley Economic Partnership's Pathways to Success, a scholarship program. The program is aimed at helping students in the Coachella Valley attend college. Ernie is also a member of the Riverside County Thermal Community Council, vice president of the Thermal Chamber of Commerce and president of the College of the Desert Alumni Association
'09 David Wall accepted a new position as senior manager in the litigation practice at SingerLewak LLP, a 50-year-old accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Prior to this, David was the director of forensics of EP Forensic & Valuation Services LLP, an affiliate of Eadie and Payne LLP. During the bank and savings and loan collapse of the late '80s, he conducted investigations on hundreds of borrowers, insiders, and officers and directors of failed financial institutions, focusing on allegations of corruption and abuse. He was awarded the Deloitte & Touche Accounting Scholars Award as well as the CalCPA Inland Empire Chapter Young & Emerging Professionals Student Scholarship.
'10 Andrew Buchanan was selected in a competition hosted by NATO on peace and security. With the 19 other winners from around the world, he participated in the NATO Summit in Chicago in May. Andrew also participated in panel discussions with the NATO secretary general and other military and civilian leaders of the alliance, as well as assorted foreign ministers, defense ministers, and associated diplomats on the evolving nature of world security and the future of Afghanistan.
'11 Breanna Baeza is the new assistant to the assistant vice chancellor for the Office of Alumni & Constituent Relations at UCR. She will provide essential programmatic and administrative support to our new assistant vice chancellor for Alumni & Constituent Relations and the alumni office staff. She will also coordinate various processes for the UCR Alumni Association membership program. Prior to working at UCR, Breanna was an executive assistant at Kevin Jacobs CPA in Riverside. While an undergraduate at UCR, Breanna was a staff writer for the Highlander. ... larry Chung was selected from a highly competitive pool of national applicants to be one of 64 Coro Fellows for 2012-13. He is one of 24 recipients from the United States. The Coro program is a full-time, nine-month, graduate-level experiential leadership training program that teaches effective and ethical leadership in the public affairs arena, providing participants with great opportunities for personal and professional growth. While at UCR, Larry was awarded the Ronald O. Loveridge Public Service Award in 2011, served as president of the Asian American Christian Fellowship, and was founder and president of Inland Empire Public Interest at UCR. He also volunteered as a community outreach intern in the Rancho Cucamonga office of San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford. ... magnolia (gonzalez) harris married Shannnon Harris in June. Magnolia currently works as a community support worker at Hograves Inc. in New Mexico. ... edward Polanco was recently accepted to the University of Arizona's Ph.D. program in history, where he will continue his studies in Latin American history and learning Kaqchikel Maya. Edward was also awarded the Foreign Language and Area Studies School Year fellowship. ... Breann Watt, israel landa '12 and daniel sanchez '12 were all named to the prestigious Capital Fellows Program for 2012-13. The fellowship programs are administered by Sacramento State University and give fellows the opportunity to engage in public service and prepare for future careers while actively contributing to the development and implementation of public policy in California.
'12 Melanie Gunther married Sam Baker in July. Melanie is an escrow assistant at Las Brisas Escrow in Riverside. ...Tan mai was recognized as the 64th Assembly District's 2012 Veteran of the Year at the Fifth Annual California State Assembly Veteran of the Year Luncheon. Tan enlisted in the Marines in 2001, immediately after graduating from high school, and was deployed three times as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He eventually reached the rank of sergeant and received his honorable discharge in 2005. In 2010 he joined the Veterans Peer Mentor program at UCR, which helps veterans make a successful transition to university life. He also participated in the UCDC program where he worked as an intern in the Washington, D.C., offices of Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton). He is now working at the Naval Surface Warfare Station as a purchasing agent.
'77 b.s., '84 Ph.D. Entomology
John is the director of atlas of living australia (www.ala.org.au), an organization that provides online information on all australian plants and animals to improve access to biodiversity information held in museums, herbaria and biological collections across the country.
'12 Business Administration
Julia yehyun lee works at the accounting firm Ernst & young. while at UCR, she was the president of the student alumni association.
Matthew W. Nelson '95
Proud UCRAA Life Member
My fondest UCR memory was meeting my wife. From my vantage point with KUCR Radio, doing everything from news to sports, DJ, engineering and producing, I saw UCR as a sleeping giant with great potential. We are very excited about UCR's current growth with the medical school, public policy school, and athletics. We've been attending Highlander games as the most tangible way to support UCR, sharing in the pride. I became a life member of the Alumni Association because it was the most immediate and easiest way to start my lifelong involvement with UCR. You can, too.
Matthew Nelson is a lawyer with Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden, San Bernardino. He is putting his B.S. in Environmental Science to good use in his practice, which primarily involves land use, including compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
Become a lifetime member of the UCRAA.
To join, call (951) UCR-ALUM (827-2586)
UCR graduate student Suresh Kumar Ramachandran Nair died in June after a swimming accident. Nair, who came from Kerala, India, was studying for his Ph.D. in electrical engineering under the direction of Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering Bir Bhanu in the UCR Visualization and Intelligent Systems Laboratory. His research focused on performance prediction of recognition systems.
Nair graduated from the Trivandrum College of Engineering with a bachelor's in electronics and communications and earned a master's in system science and automation from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Before coming to Riverside, he was the chairman of the electronics and communication department at the Amrita School of Engineering in the state of Kerala, India. He also taught in the Department of Electronics & Communication at the Trivandrum College of Engineering.
Nair is survived by his wife, Renu, mother Radhamma, sister Anita and brother Ajay.
'61 Linda Westfall Archibald, kindergarten teacher. June 2012.
'67 Jim Leonard, insurance sales. June 2012.
'09 Paul Bargas, baseball player. June 2012.
John Marcellus steadman III, a member of the English Department from 1966-1989, died on March 14 in Mobile, Ala. He was 93.
Steadman was born Nov. 25, 1918, in Spartanburg, S. C. He received undergraduate, graduate, and honorary degrees from Emory University and was awarded a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1949. He joined the UCR English department in 1966.
Professor Steadman specialized in Renaissance literature. He was the author of 12 scholarly books, four volumes of poetry, a collection of stories and sketches, and hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, scholarly notes, reviews, and encyclopedia entries.
In 1977, he was a University Lecturer, choosing as his topic "The Hill and the Labyrinth: Rhetoric and Certitude in Milton and His Contemporaries." He received a Guggenheim Fellowship the following year.
After retiring from UCR in 1989, Steadman continued as senior research associate at the Huntington Library and remained active as a scholar and poet. UCR nominated him for the Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award in 2000 and 2001.
Father Anastasios Bandy died on Feb. 25 at the age of 91. The UCR professor emeritus was an accomplished scholar. According to The Hellenic News of America, Bandy was "a pioneer of priests of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese who have been characterized as our scholar-priests. As one of the early graduates of our old Holy Cross Theological Institute in Pomfret, Conn., he set an example of a person of faith, virtue, and knowledge that several other Holy Cross graduates followed."
He received degrees in philosophy and the Greek and Latin classics from La Salle College and the University of Pennsylvania. He retired from UCR in 1981.
Sam Borg, associate professor emeritus of French, died Oct. 2, 2011. He was 80.
Borg matriculated at Wayne State University, earning a B.A. in French in 1958 and an M.A. in French in 1959. He received his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley in 1966. After his Ph.D., he accepted a job as assistant professor of French at UCR in 1964. He became an associate professor in 1969. He taught courses in French and French Literature, as well as Italian language, until his retirement in 1991. Between 2000 and 2008 he spent half his time in Riverside and half in Malta. In 2008, due to declining health, he settled permanently in Malta and died in Msida three years later. He is survived by three children, Maureen, Paul and George, and four grandchildren, Brian, Victor, Sean, and Dana. During his tenure at UCR, Borg published a widely reviewed book, a critical edition of the "Aye d'Avignon: Chanson de Geste Anonyme" (Geneva: Droz, 1967).
Ellis F. Darley, plant pathologist and lecturer emeritus, passed away on March 9. He was 96.
Darley joined the Department of Plant Pathology (now Plant Pathology and Microbiology) in 1955; he was also a member of the Air Pollution Research Center.
Born in 1915, Dr. Darley was raised in Colorado and received his B.S. in forestry from Colorado State University in 1938 and Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota in 1945. Before joining UCR, he worked for Firestone Plantations in Liberia and for the USDA in Guatemala. Darley's work helped lead to state and county regulations that all but eliminated the thick black haze that used to permeate the air near orchards on cold winter nights.
Darley retired in 1978, and moved to Washington state with his wife, Katherine. She preceded him in death. He is survived by three children.
By Litty Mathew
When Joseph Yi started an online electronics marketplace while a sophomore at UCR, he noticed something: the power of social sharing.
The launch of his company coincided with Facebook's infancy. "Our best-selling item was a hard-to-find Nokia cellular phone," says Yi. "Facebook was great because it let our friends know where they could buy it, which created a word-of-mouth chain. Back then, the Facebook Marketplace allowed us to list the item, which all users could see. Facebook was a tool to communicate and stay in touch with friends, but it was perfect for sharing products and opportunities," says Yi. At a time when traditional media's impact was becoming less valuable, Yi was able to find a new market by tapping into social media.
This observation also helped him become an early expert in the social media arena, using popular tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Today, he develops content, social media and digital strategies to help sports teams understand and engage their fans. On his roster? The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Oakland Raiders.
"Sports is unique due to the relationship between the fan and the team," notes Yi. "For years, teams and fans have been separated by an invisible corporate wall. With the advent and rise of social media, they have broken down these walls and have been able to interact with fans on an intimate level."
For the Oakland Raiders, Yi and his team designed a campaign called Bring a Friend to a Raiders Game. The online contest site was created so that it would be easy to enter and share via Facebook and Twitter. Fans got an additional entry if they shared the contest on their social networks. The result? An Oakland Raiders record. "Over 27,000 people entered over the 21 days of the promotion, with 58 percent of users showing interest in purchasing tickets and 5 million Facebook impressions," says Yi.
Yi's other social networking contests have involved giving away Clipper rookie Blake Griffin's personal C s C a P E tickets, and lurking behind the scenes with Jeanie Vision. Jeanie Vision is a series of YouTube videos filmed, narrated and edited by Jeanie Buss, the executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers. Through Yi's efforts, fans and teams connect on a different level, leading to higher sales and more advertising dollars.
Although Yi's job is to reach millions of people, digital marketing teams in sports are still small. (Typically, they involve a project lead and two support members.) "My average day includes creating new content and contests, monitoring a team's brand — what people say about them in the digital space — and providing best practices such as when and how much to post, and optimizing the wording of a post," he says.
For sports teams, social media has been a learning experience. Many utilized MySpace pages that ultimately failed, and teams didn't want to commit to anything that would result in the same outcome. Slowly, social media has become more a part of sports teams' standard marketing and branding efforts — with better results. A Twitter post from the Oakland Raiders' Bring a Friend campaign, for example, became a Top Tweet. That meant anyone who searched the term "Raiders" would see the Tweet long after the contest was finished. Its price tag? Zero dollars.
"The best campaigns and ideas are those that make an emotional connection with users," says Yi. "Fans, by nature, are emotional. Harnessing that and capturing their attention is the key."
As a social media expert, Yi is often asked for advice — but it's not always about how to get Kobe to tweet back at you. the question he gets asked the most is "Can my boss find me online?" to read the answer, go to ucrmagazinearchive.ucr.edu
Inspired by nature: By studying sea urchins, corals and snails, UCR engineers learn to synthesize new materials like lightweight armor and flexible ceramics.
Explore more sustainability impacts at promise.ucr.edu