Category Archives: Justice Studies

Wilson Yuan Assistant Professor, Justice Studies Wins Significant Grant from National Institute of Justice

Congratulations to Wilson Yuan, assistant professor, Justice Studies, who was awarded a significant grant from the National Institute of Justice. He submitted the grant with time and support of the University Grants Academy.

Dr. Yuan and his research team propose a mixed-methods, city-wide victimization study focused on criminal victimization across Hispanic and Asian subgroups. The goals of this study are to: (1) identify patterns of criminal victimization across first-, second-, and third-generations of immigrants, (2) identify patterns of criminal victimization across Hispanic and Asian subgroups; (3) identify correlates of crime reporting among immigrants; (4) identify whether perceptions of immigration policies among immigrants are associated with responses to crime and victimization; (5) examine how neighborhood immigration concentration levels are associated with criminal victimization; (6) explore how immigrants view the threat of victimization for themselves and their local community; and (7) explore how victims of crime who are legal and illegal residents cope with victimization and utilize different resources (e.g., police, courts, and community organizations).

Dr. Yuan and his research team plan to address these aims in three ways. They will conduct a cross-sectional survey of local residents’ victimization experiences, in-depth interviews with both legal and illegal local residents, and focus groups with police officers, victim services providers, and members of community organizations.

Justice Studies Adjunct Professor Inspires Students to Write Letters to the Editor

When Joseph Di Salvo, Adjunct Lecturer, Justice Studies, teaches JS 132 Race, Gender, Inequality and Law, he not only brings in well know community leaders as expert speakers but this semester he inspired his students to have an amplified voice about justice issues for which they felt strongly.

Professor Di Salvo assigned his class of 35 to write a letter to the editor about a current issue in the news relative to class topics of race, gender and/or inequality. He then challenged them to go the extra mile and send their 150-word letter into their local paper to get their comments published.

As an incentive, if their letters were published they would not have to take the midterm. According to Di Salvo, six outstanding students were delighted and inspired that their letters were published in print in the San Jose Mercury News on various days in March.

These students are:

Jessica Andrade-Villanueva
Jasiyot Atwal
Cerina Cervantes
Carlos Ponce Sanchez
Raghav Sharma
Lizeth Valtierra Lule

The subjects of the student’s letters ranged from questioning whether California’s Attorney General is wrong in shielding “bad” cops to the issues of hypermasculinity and its adverse effect on the life of R. Kelly.

Here are three of the student’s published letters:

Jasiyot Atwal
Recent controversy is over Attorney General Xavier Becerra pursuing politics over reform on misconduct officers. What alarms my attention is that the public records list contains 12,000 officers who have gotten away with repulsive, and unlawful crimes committed. These officers are waived of any major discipline or charges.

Instead of prosecuting these officers, Becerra makes threats to the reporters for having the list of the cops who have broken the law. Personally, Attorney General Becerra needs action taken against him for protecting these corrupt officers and should be shunned from all political advancement. Instead of helping the community and being strict on bad cops. But rather, he cares more about his political status advancing more in that field, than setting the law on the officers. I wouldn’t want police officers in my community who commit domestic abuse, sexual assault, money laundering, and other illegal acts.

Carlos Ponce Sanchez
I grew up in San Jose and the discrepancy between schools in the same school district let alone the same county is absolutely astonishing. Because of my involvement in sports, I traveled to many other schools in the county and district. The difference between their equipment, their uniforms, how clean their campus was compared to our school (predominantly minority) was day and night. The teams we face were mostly predominantly white boys, with some colored kids. Even at my young age (in high school), I question why my school faced budget problems to maintain the bare minimum to have sports. While, this schools in the same county or district, have all brand name equipment and financial academical advantages etc. I question how can we ask low-income students to perform equally as good as kids from middle to high income neighborhood, if the financial and community investment is not equal?

Lizeth Valtierra Lule
With various films/documentaries that have been produced regarding the topic of hypermasculinity, people are becoming more aware of it. For years, cartoons, films, and other media focused on making males seem strong, and violent, and they were taught that hypersexualizing women made them men. Even toys have become more masculine and violent in order to teach males that this is the idea of how they should be. Males grow up to believe they cannot cry or show any emotions, leading them to a life of frustration, confusion and hate towards the opposite sex. As a result, men become insecure and believe women should be treated as objects. A prime example of this would be R. Kelly, as he was allegedly sexually involved with various women and underaged girls and forced them to obey him and treat him as their master. Even with solid evidence, victims are seen as liars.

Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity Awards

The 2015-16 CEED Award winners were recognized on April 26, 2016, for their excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity.

The 2015-16 CEED Award winners were recognized on April 26, 2016, for their excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity.

The College of Applied Sciences and Arts’ Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity (CEED) reception was held on Tuesday, April 26, honoring six recipients whose combined effort and activities have made an important contribution to enhance equity and diversity at San José State University (SJSU) and/or in the community. CEED Award categories consist of an Undergraduate Student Award, Graduate Student Award, Faculty Award, Staff Award, and Student Organization Award.

The purpose of the CEED Awards is to recognize those individuals and groups that have demonstrated excellence in promoting and fostering a deeper understanding of equity and diversity as they relate to issues of age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion and/or sexual orientation.

The recipients for the CEED Distinguished Service Award are:

Undergraduate Student Award – Navpreet Kaur, the Valley Foundation School of Nursing

Navpreet has led or been involved in several projects that promote equity and diversity on campus. In 2015, she led the Peace Pole Monument project that helped to place an official monument on campus. The Peace Pole is a hand-crafted wooden monument that has the message “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in the 12 most frequently used languages in Santa Clara County.

Navpreet also serves on the President’s Commission on Diversity which provides “input, recommendations, and advice to the President on effective ways to create a campus environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.” She initiated this project in an effort to counteract negative publicity related to diversity issues that were occurring on campus.

Graduate Student Award – Essraa Nawar, School of Information

Essraa Nawar is pursuing her passion to be a librarian focusing on programming and outreach in bringing diverse programming to the life of the libraries and the academic institutions she serves. One of Essraa’s strengths is her ability to create an atmosphere of awareness regarding ethnicity, gender, and religious diversity across campus.

She serves on the Chancellor’s Diversity Advisory Committee and developed a program on empowering Muslim women. Essraa coordinated the support of the Sikh American Community through Vaisakhi programming, an exhibition on demystifying the turban. She also spoke at a TED Talk in Munich, Germany, to further her diversity message to change the narrative of how people see Muslim women specifically and Muslim people in general.

Graduate Student Award – Cotton Stevenson, School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Cotton conceived the slogan “Diversity University” as part of a class project to make a difference at SJSU. He didn’t stop there. Cotton decided to make issues surrounding diversity and acceptance on the SJSU campus the focus of his second master’s degree. Because of him, we now have an annual Diversity Day at SJSU.

As a graphic artist, Stevenson created the logo for the event as well. He is now in the final stages of a documentary about the history and importance of diversity on this campus. He’s already completed several impressive interviews for this project which include Jeanne Wakatsuki, the author of Farewell to Manzanar, Erik Grotz, the student who suggested the Tommie Smith-John Carlos sculptures as well as with the artist who created it.

He was also awarded a proclamation by Rep. Zoe Lofgren for his commitment to “Diversity University.”

Faculty Award – Dr. William Armaline, Justice Studies

Dr. Armaline established and serves as coordinator of the Human Rights Program at SJSU. As a part of that initiative, he implemented the  popular Human Rights Minor, a program through which students gain an understanding of various human rights problems that affect their community, including racism, discrimination, and inequality. He is committed to raising awareness on campus to issues of equity and diversity.  As a part of this effort, he founded and continues to coordinate the annual human rights event.

He chairs the Human Rights Working Group, which serves as a platform for faculty to engage in issues of equity and diversity. Throughout his work, Dr. Armaline single handedly serves as a hub for students who are interested in increasing equity on campus.  He informally advises students on activism both on and off campus.

Dr. Armaline is also involved in numerous activities in the community.  He authored reports on social justice issues, served as a National Board Member in Save the Kids, a grass-roots organization dedicated to alternatives to end of the incarceration of youth, is a Council Member in the Santa Clara County Child Abuse Council. He most recently initiated a partnership with DeBug, a San José media, community organizing, and entrepreneurial collective that leads successful social justice campaigns to advance the rights of youth, workers, immigrants and those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Staff Award – Silvia La Rosa, School of Journalism and Mass Communications

In addition to providing extensive administrative support for more than 500 School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC) students and 22 faculty, Silvia is a committed advocate for SJSU diversity students.

Silvia offers extraordinary time and effort to advising and mentoring all students. She connects on a powerful level with JMC School Spanish speaking students. Her translation skills combined with her knowledge of university procedures and her deep passion for helping students find their voice and express their creativity has resulted in numerous success stories that are greatly admired and appreciated in our program.

In Fall 2015, she was a leading advocate for fundraising of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts international learning initiative. She played a significant role in helping persuade a special JMC guest, CNN Correspondent Sara Sidner from Los Angeles, to donate her William Randolph Hearst honorarium to start a newly created fund and campaign to raise scholarship money to help SJSU students from poor and under-represented communities to participate. She plays an instrumental role in helping the school director create Spanish community messages and promotions that invite Bay Area business and schools to partner with JMC.

Silvia always finds the time to encourage students and faculty.

Student Organization Award – Alpha Phi Sigma Iota Chapter, Justice Studies

A team of Iota Chapter members and alumni volunteered at the Center with the Prison Education Project (PEP), teaching the 7 week Academic Orientation Course.  They met every Friday with a group of formerly incarcerated individuals currently on parole.  They created presentations about college as well as give mini-lectures based on topics in Justice Studies majors (e.g. consequences of mass incarceration and juvenile justice).  A big component of this program is engaging the program participants in discussions about the topics presented as well as their interests and needs.  In addition, Iota chapter collected and donated 100 backpacks with everyday necessities and held a clothing drive on campus for the Santa Clara County Resource Reentry Center to give to their clients.

Congratulations to all 2015-16 CEED Award winners!

CEED Logo

CASA Faculty Recognized for Years of Service

San José State University held its 17th Annual Faculty Service Recognition and Awards Luncheon on March 15, 2016, to celebrate faculty who have reached a significant milestone year. Honorees were given a special gift with the years of service engraved.

The College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA) is very grateful for its wonderful faculty and is proud to acknowledge our faculty who were recognized for 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 years of service.

15 Years of Service

  • Antoinette Bloom, Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging
  • Richard Craig, Journalism and Mass Communications
  • Ziming Liu, School of Information
  • Jennifer Schachner, Kinesiology

20 Years of Service

  • Lisa Arieta Hayes, Social Work
  • Christine Di Salvo, Journalism and Mass Communications
  • Alice Hines, Social Work
  • Clarie Hollenbeck, Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging
  • Geoffrey Liu, School of Information
  • Lee Pate, Kinesiology
  • Diane Stuenkel, Nursing
  • Gilbert Villagran, Social Work

25 Years of Service

  • Yoko Baba, Justice Studies
  • Elizabeth Cara, Occupational Therapy
  • Gong Chen, Kinesiology
  • Buddy Gerstman, Health Science and Recreation
  • Nancy Megginson, Kinesiology
  • Fred Prochaska, Social Work
  • Bob Rucker, Journalism and Mass Communications

30 Years of Service

  • Kathy Abriam-Yago, Nursing
  • Christine Hooper, Nursing
  • Linda Main, School of Information
  • Jacquelyn McClure, Justice Studies
  • Judi Morrill, Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging
  • Kathleen Roe, Health Science and Recreation

40 Years of Service

  • William Tillinghast, Journalism and Mass Communications

Congratulations to all on reaching this service milestone with SJSU and thank you for your hard work and much dedication to the success of our students. We look forward to your ongoing contributions and a successful future!

James Lee Selected to Serve as Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Applied Social Science

Journal of Applied Social Science

Justice Studies Professor and Chair, James Lee, has been selected to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Social Science (JASS). JASS is the journal of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS).

“I am humbled by the confidence that the board of AACS has in me,” said Lee about being selected.

JASS publishes research that has a pragmatic, problem solving orientation. Applied social science involves using established theories and research methods to collect and analyze data for practical problems faced by organizations or communities. The work often involves a relationship between researchers and clients. JASS contributes to evidence-based knowledge, publishes evaluations, research articles and reports, and methodological advances in social sciences.

JASS is a valuable resource for finding effective programs and solutions to address real life problems as well as learning what doesn’t work. Lee says that the journal can be useful for students who will be called upon to solve problems for organizations in the future.

“JASS provides lessons for students about how to properly collect and analyze data to address social problems,” said Lee.

Lee’s responsibilities will require him to be the arbiter of quality for the journal and identify the most critical issues in applied sociology. “Editors must be energetic and attentive to the major discussions going on in an area of study,” said Lee about how this position holds great responsibility and effort.

Lee plans to do his best to keep this valuable journal available to researchers, practitioners, and those who value evidence-based policies and practices. The College of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Department of Justice Studies are proud to host this nationally recognized journal.