Author Archives: Melissa Anderson

UPDATED: SJSU students take home photojournalism award

In May, San José State University photojournalism students James Tensuan and  Kevin Johnson took first and second place in the 40th Annual News Photography and Video competition, sponsored by the Bay Area Press Photographers Association, in the student division for a photo portfolio. Tensuan is working as a photography intern at the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, according to Professor Michael Cheers, and Johnson works part time at the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.

In an article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the president of the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association said there have been strong photojournalist student competitors coming out of SJSU in recent years. The School of Journalism and Mass Communications is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts at SJSU.

To read the full article and see some of the 24 photos included in Johnson’s portfolio, visit http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_25789187/sentinel-photographer-takes-bay-area-award. To view more of Tensuan’s work, visit jamestensuan.wordpress.com

Earlier in the academic year Raphael Kluzniok took first place in the sports feature category of the College Photographer of the Year competition while Tensuan took second place in the same category. The competition administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism is one of the most prestigious international competitions in the world, according to Cheers.

The work of photojournalism students Tensuan, Kluznoik, and Johnson as well as Ramone Farrier, Randy Vazquez and Brandon Chew can be viewed in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library on the fifth floor in the Cultural Heritage Center as part of the “Emerging Talents” display through mid-August. In the fall, the work will be on display in Dwight Bentel Hall.

For more on the programs offered through the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, visit http://www.jmc.sjsu.edu/.

 

SJSU Record Clearance Project featured in Mercury news

The San José State University Records Clearance Project was featured on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News May 23, with the story also featured prominently on the newspaper’s website and photo gallery page.

The Records Clearance Project is an effort undertaken by the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Justice Studies department’s Peggy Stevenson and students who work to help those with a criminal history get their records expunged. The program, started in January 2008, connects people eligible to clear their criminal records with undergraduate students in the Justice Studies department who assist them through the process. In 2013, the team reported filing 169 petitions on behalf of 55 clients with all but two dismissals granted. A recent study conducted by Stanford University found many benefits for those who have their records expunged as well as for the economy of their communities, as those who have their records cleared have more opportunities to find employment.

To read the San Jose Mercury article, visit http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_25817690/sjsu-program-gives-reformed-criminals-second-chance.

Helen L. stevens scholarship help students learn overseas

This summer, San José State University students Aly Mauro and Cynthia Ting will take their occupational therapy education abroad on two very different faculty-led programs to islands far from California. Mauro will be part of a pilot program of the Valley Foundation School of Nursing’s Health Promotion class in Grenada while Ting will be learning about healthcare in parts of Taiwan.

“I chose this specific program because it is an interdisciplinary experience,” Mauro said, via email this week, of the program that is open to nursing and occupational therapy students. “It is a unique trip where I can learn from both an OT professor and nursing professors about the realm of public health.”

Dean Charles Bullock, right, hands a thank you card to Helen Stevens that was signed by the scholarship recipients. Stevens helped select the 12 students who each received $500 to participate in faculty-led study abroad programs this summer.

Dean Charles Bullock, right, hands a thank you card to Helen Stevens that was signed by the scholarship recipients. Stevens helped select the 12 students who each received $500 to participate in faculty-led study abroad programs this summer.

College of Applied Sciences and Arts students pose with Helen Stevens, center with the flowers, at a reception in Dean Charlees bullock's office with some of the faculty members with whom they will traveling this summer.

College of Applied Sciences and Arts students pose with Helen Stevens, center with the flowers, at a reception in Dean Charles Bullock’s office with some of the faculty members with whom they will traveling this summer.

Ting said on her program she will learn about accessibility of healthcare in rural and urban parts of Taiwan.

“We will get the opportunity to travel around the island to various community settings, including one aboriginal tribe, which I am looking forward to,” she said via email.

Ting and Mauro were among the 12 students to receive the inaugural Helen L. Stevens Faculty-Led Program Scholarship for the College of Applied Sciences and Arts.  Stevens helped to select the 12 students who received $500 toward their summer travel programs. The students are also part of a pilot effort to increase opportunities for international experiences being undertaken by the College of Applied Sciences and Arts students, with an ultimate goal of making some type of international education required for all graduates of the 10 departments and schools in the college.

To thank Stevens for her donation, Dean Charles Bullock and his Associate Deans Alice Hines and Greg Payne hosted a small reception for the scholarship recipients to celebrate.

“When I put my name tag on, which only had my first name, (Stevens) looked at me and greeted me with my full name, with a giant smile,” Ting said. “I was surprised and touched.”

Ting said she was also excited to learn about Stevens own travels as a student.

Mauro said she was glad to attend the reception because she was appreciative of Stevens’ generosity and “genuine interest in our experiences abroad.”

“It was a huge relief to receive the email that I was a recipient, as cost of these programs is a limiting factor for many interested students,” Mauro said. “This scholarship helps relieve some of the stress associated with the financials of the trip.”

Mauro said study abroad will broaden her perspective on the potential ways she will be able to exercise her degree in OT. She said the hands-on program will allow her to apply the knowledge she has gained in the second year of the master’s in Occupational Therapy program in which she is enrolled. She was especially excited to have the opportunity to study abroad because she did not have the chance as an undergraduate student.

Ting also said she looked forward to using her skills from the classroom.

“Having the opportunity to feel uncomfortable and out of place in a society that has a different world view will help me grow into a better practitioner in the future,” she said.

Bullock, faculty and staff in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts are researching ways to make international programs accessible to all students, financially and in meeting their graduation requirements. For 2014, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Occupational Therapy department and the Valley Foundation School of Nursing are serving as pilot programs.

The following students, who come from a variety of departments and schools in CASA, also received scholarships:

  • Aleli Blanco
  • Cedric Tumanut
  • Jayne Baltazar
  • Jennifer Leocadio
  • Lesley Paige
  • Michael Celso
  • Samantha Rodgers
  • Crystal Diaz
  • Kelli Daley
  • Kayla Koterbay

CEED reception honors committement to equity and diversity

On April 29, Dean Charles Bullock and the Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity honored two members of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts for their efforts at San José State University as well as in the community to enhance equity and diversity with the 2014 CEED Award.

Ashwini Wagle, a professor in nutrition and food science, and Debbie Reese, a student in the School of Library and Information Science, were honored for their efforts. Each received a certificate of recognition and a gift certificate at the reception. They also received an SJSU key chain and pen set and a padfolio with the SJSU logo on it, donated by Spartan Bookstore. During the reception, faculty and staff members from Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging and School of Library Information Science gathered in the Dean’s conference room to celebrate with Wagle and Reese, who joined remotely via Webex.

Reese is a student in the Master of Library and Information Science degree program and is a School of Library and Information Science Circle of Learning scholar. COL is a grant-funded partnership with the American Indian Library Association, funded by the Institute of Library and Museum Services. In her time as a student, she has been invited as a guest at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s American Healing for Democracy conference in New Orleans, as well as a presenter at the Pacific Northwest Library Association conference and the International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums in Tulsa, Okla. She also maintains a blog: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

For more on the nominees, read the previous College of Applied Sciences and Arts blog post at: http://blogs.sjsu.edu/casa/2014/04/29/faculty-student-honored-for-enhancing-equity-and-diversity.

SJSU push-ups raise money for vets

San José State University’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 045 will host a fundraiser event for “The Boot Campaign.” Participants will raise money by doing push ups for the charity that supports wounded, disabled and killed in action veterans and service members on May 17, from 1-3 p.m. on the lawn near the SJSU Associated Student House.

During the event, which coincides with Armed Forces Day, teams across the United States will complete as many pushups as they can in 90 seconds. The local team has already raised $9,105, according to their online website. Donations are still being accepted and interested participants can still join their team by visiting: http://www.crowdrise.com/detachment045.