Alexxandra Salazar, 24, has come a long way since graduating magna cum laude as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar in May of this year with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from California State University, Dominguez Hills. In fact, the California native is about 8,000 miles away immersed in Cambodian culture. Salazar was selected in spring by the nonprofit Teach Cambodia, Inc. to serve for a month as a volunteer and intern in Cambodia. Within days following commencement, she arrived at the South-East Asian village of Wat Bo in Siem Reap to assist Sambour Primary School with the undertaking of an international Peace Pals project, which teaches children about peace through various art ... Read More
Archives for June 2013
Compassion and Advocacy, All in a Day’s Work for Alumna Barbara Haney
Although she has a laid-back demeanor, Barbara Haney is a fierce advocate for those with developmental disabilities. As director of community development for Social Vocational Services Inc. (SVS), a California non-profit organization headquartered in Torrance that provides job placement for individuals with developmental disabilities, the California State University, Dominguez Hills alumna (Class of ’89, M.S., special education: severely handicapped) oversees a staff of five people, with whom she works to provide services for more than 300 employers in Southern California, including Toyota, Disneyland, Broadcom, and Chili’s. “We’re really the eyes and the face of SVS out in the community, ... Read More
$249K National Science Foundation Grant to Send Students to Australia to Study Climate Change
California State University, Dominguez Hills associate professor of biology Terry McGlynn has been awarded a three-year $249,922 National Science Foundation (NSF) International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant to establish the Fire, Carbon, and Climate Change in Australia program. The IRES grant will fully fund the opportunity for 12 undergraduate and graduate science majors at CSU Dominguez Hills to conduct climate change science research in collaboration with the CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre (TERC) in the Northern Territory of Australia. The first group of four students will leave in January 2014, with subsequent four-student cohorts going in 2015 and ... Read More
CSUDH Students, Faculty Aid in Release of Endangered Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly
This spring, as part of a multi-organizational collaboration with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy to bring back the Palos Verdes blue butterfly from the brink of extinction, California State University, Dominguez Hills earth science students and faculty participated in the release of hundreds of the propagated animals back into the wild at the Linden H. Chandler Reserve, a 28.5-acre property located in Rolling Hills Estates. “I was really excited that I was able to join everybody and release some of the butterflies. It was just a spectacular event and they are absolutely beautiful insects. I’m glad I was a part of that,” said Jenny Greer, who graduated from CSU Dominguez ... Read More
Marcela Franco: CSUDH Victim of Santa Monica Shootings Embraced Toro Spirit
California State University, Dominguez Hills faculty, staff, students and alumni are mourning the loss of student Marcela Franco, who died on Sunday, June 9, from wounds sustained as a victim of a one-man shooting that took place in various locations in Santa Monica on Friday, June 7. Six people were killed, including the gunman. Marcela and her father, Santa Monica College groundskeeper Carlos Franco, were exiting a parking lot on the SMC campus Friday, after visiting the campus bookstore to purchase Marcela’s books for a summer class, when they were both shot. Her father died at the scene and Marcela was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries on ... Read More
