Category Archives: Uncategorized

Students Celebrate Culture at SJSU Showcase April 21

The Third Annual SJSU Cultural Showcase will be held Thursday, April 21, at 6 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. The event will feature cultural performances followed by a reception. Tickets are on sale now: $3 with a student ID or $5 for the general public. The event was originally founded in 2014 by Salzburg Scholars. The students, who attended a Global Alliance Seminar in Salzburg in summer 2014, were charged with promoting global citizenship upon their return. They coordinated the planning and execution of the event in its first and second year. Below are some photos from the 2015 SJSU Cultural Showcase event, which featured dozens of performers, an art display and cultural foods.

SJSU Student Research Forum This Week

Flyer for 2016 Student Research Forum

Flyer for 2016 Student Research Forum

SJSU’s Office of Research and the SJSU Research Foundation will be hosting the 37th Annual SJSU Student Research Forum, on Thursday, April 7, from noon to 2 p.m., in ENG 285/287. The event will include a student poster presentation, an awards ceremony and reception. The six students, who will be honored with their faculty mentors, competed in the SJSU Student Research Competition March 2 and 3.

A total of 12 students competed in categories that included engineering and computer science; physical and mathematical sciences; biological and agricultural sciences; interdisciplinary; business, economics and public administration; behavioral and social sciences; and health, nutrition and clinical sciences. They were each allotted 25 minutes to do a short presentation on their research and answer questions from a panel of faculty members on the selection committee.

The top student researchers who will be honored on Thursday will share their research with a poster presentation. The students include:

  • Michael Balderrama, Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering, with faculty mentor Claire Komives: “Bioengineering an Alternative, Cheap, and Reliable Anti-venom: The LTNF-11 Peptide”
  • Wilson Florero-Salinas and Dan Li, College of Science, with faculty mentor Guangliang Chen: “Efficient and Accurate kNN Based Parameter Tuning for SVM”
  • Angela Gates, College of Applied Sciences and Arts, with faculty mentor Debra Hansen: “A (Blind) Woman’s Place is (Teaching) in the Home: The Life of Kate Foley (1873-1940)”
  • Evelyn Henry, College of Science, with faculty mentor Lionel Cheruzel: “Immobilization of Light-Driven P450 Biocatalysts Using Cross-Linked Enzeyme Aggregates (CLEAS)”
  • Sushmitha Kasturi, College of Social Sciences, with faculty mentor Colleen Haight: “Why Is It Riskier for Microfinance Institutes to Lend Loans to the Women in Indian Than to the Women in Bangladseh?”
  • Aneesha Kulkarni, College of Science, with faculty mentor Tzvia Abramson: “Modeling Endothelial Cells t Study Inflammatory Responses in a Bordetella Pertussis Infection.”

The six SJSU Student Research Competition winners will compete in the statewide CSU Student Research Competition on April 29 and 30.

Please RSVP to the April 7 event to foundation-osp-infoservices@sjsu.edu

Spring University Scholar Series Launches with Meniketti lecture

Dr. Marco Meniketti works with a then-graduate student Chris Keith, '15 MA Applied Anthropology, on excavating a burial site.

Dr. Marco Meniketti, left, works with a then-graduate student Chris Keith, ’15 MA Applied Anthropology, on excavating a burial site.

Dr. Marco Meniketti, a professor of archaeology in the College of Social Sciences’ anthropology department, will launch the Spring 2016 University Scholar Series (USS) on Feb. 24, from noon to 1 p.m. in MLK 225/229, with a lecture about the intersection of environmental change and the ascendancy of capitalism from the age of exploration through the late Industrial Revolution.

Meniketti has built a robust research portfolio since he attended his first field school in Jamaica at the start of his career when he helped excavate the sunken city of Port Royal, which had been destroyed in 1692 by an earthquake. From there, he participated in a search for the last two ships commanded by Columbus, followed by research in the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean.

“I began to branch out into the study of early colonial systems, slavery and environmental change,” he said.

Meniketti sees archaeological research as providing important lessons from the past about environmental change, labor and economics. His recently published book, Sugar Cane Capitalism and Environmental Transformation (The University of Alabama Press, 2016) explores these themes.

“While the outcomes of the current practices and environmental change may be uncertain in the present, we do know what the outcomes were in the past and, therefore, we may be able to influence the future outcomes or better comprehend the directions we are headed,” he said.

Meniketti actively engages students in field school projects through SJSU’s Faculty-Led Programs, where they are able to gain academic credit while participating in authentic data collection, mapping, artifact analysis, and other related activities in the Caribbean. Meniketti is also engaging students in a field project in Santa Cruz in partnership with the California Department of Parks and Recreation. He regularly attends conferences to report on student findings and the students who have participated in the field schools often continue onto graduate school.

“Archaeology is more than just digging up artifacts,” Meniketti said. “It is a means of exploring our past cultures, behaviors, patterns of settlement and industry, and environment. It is a science that can address everything from ancient technology to issues of social justice.”

Upcoming lectures:

Dr. Ivano Aiello, a professor of geological oceanography with the College of Science Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, on his research of microfossil-rich marine sediments and the information it provides about past climate conditions.

March 23, from noon to 1 p.m., in MLK 225/229

Dr. Janet Stemwedel, a professor and chair of the philosophy department in the College of Humanities and the Arts, will explore the ethical dimensions of being a good scientist that extend beyond avoiding or responding to scientific misconduct in her lecture.

April 20, from noon to 1 p.m., in MLK 255/257

The University Scholars Series is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the University Library and the Spartan Bookstore.

Library study room updates

As part of the Academic Affairs 21st Century Teaching and Learning Spaces priority group work, new furniture and updated equipment were installed in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library study rooms. The pictures below show before and after images of space.

CAPS offers suicide and mental health crisis intervention training this spring

Learn How You can Save a LifeSJSU students, staff, faculty and administrators are invited to attend suicide and mental health crisis intervention training this spring semester.

Programs offered this spring include:

Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR), an hour and a half session that will help participants recognize signs of suicide, provide support and provide “Suicide First Aid.” Offered on Feb. 12, noon to 1:15 p.m.; March 10, 12:30-1:45 p.m.;  April 6, 4-5:15 p.m.; and May 3, from noon to 1:15 p.m.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an eight-hour training course designed to teach individuals methods for assisting someone who may be in the early stages of developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The course provides useful information on how to assist individuals who have a history of mental disorders, longer-term mental health problems, or help identify those developing serious mental health difficulties. Offered as a full-day session on March 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (for faculty and staff only) or as two half-day sessions on Feb. 26 and March 4, from 1-5 p.m. or April 15 and 22, from 8 a.m. to noon.

A Thousand Stars, a seven hour suicide awareness and prevention training, and a component of the SJSU Suicide Prevention and Resilience Network. This up-to-date and multiculturally-informed training on suicide awareness provides education and skills to SJSU student volunteers (who become “Stars”) in order to help provide fellow students and community members in distress with vital resources. Offered on March 18, from 8:30-4:50 p.m.

Applied Suicide Intervention skills Training, is a comprehensive, 15-hour training to help participants in recognizing signs of suicide, and to apply skills and knowledge to help people who are struggle with suicide. Offered as two-full day sessions on June 6 and 7.

The sessions are free and open to the public. They are sponsored by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), a department within the Division of Student Affairs. All meetings are wheelchair accessible. If you need other accommodations, please contact CAPS at (408)924-5910. Sign up online to participate in any of the programs.