Features

English Department Alumni Take Interdisciplinary Approach to Branding Toyota Financial Services

August 5, 2010 By admin

Although Tatsumi Paredes (Class of ’98, B.A., English, magna cum laude) and Maria Tirado (Class of ’86, B.A. English lit/communications) attended California State University, Dominguez Hills nearly a decade apart, they both agreed that the education they received was instrumental in propelling them to their current positions at Toyota Financial Services (TFS). Tirado, who serves as TFS’s brand manager, recently welcomed Paredes to her department as the new brand administrator.

Tatsumi Paredes (at left) and Maria Tirado are the brains behind an external branding campaign for Toyota Financial Services; photo by Joanie Harmon

“The best thing about Cal State Dominguez Hills is that the class sizes were pretty small, so we were able to get individual attention in terms of what we were learning,” says Paredes. “It was a good opportunity to work with other students and professors directly. It’s pretty amazing how closely that translates to the real world.

“If you go to any large university, I don’t think you’ll get that intimate interaction. You’re in a crowd… listening to a lecture. But we all know that in the real world, we’ve got to participate in meetings. We don’t just sit there and listen, for the most part. So I think that’s a great advantage that Dominguez Hills has.”

Tirado says that the opportunities that CSU Dominguez Hills gives its students was instrumental in helping her achieve her career goal as a writer, which led to her current position.

“What I liked was how small and intimate [the campus] was,” says the former Bull’s Eye (now The Bulletin) reporter. “It was such an honor to interview Sally Ride for the school newspaper. I felt that’s what Dominguez afforded me – access to things that maybe a larger university could not give me.”

Providing a way to achieve dreams is just what Tirado and Paredes are in the business of as leaders of the brand team for TFS. They are currently developing an external brand strategy to encourage more automobile buyers to use Toyota’s financial services. Tirado believes that the success of their internal campaign will ensure its favorable reception by the public.

“What we’ve learned is that we’re not going to reach anybody out there if we don’t believe it here first,” says Tirado, who has worked at Toyota since 1996. “Our product is really an experience. Our people are what differentiate us from all the [competition]. They go through extensive training on how to treat our customers… to deliver service that is simple, proactive, and personal.”

Paredes says that since she began her career at Toyota three years ago as senior dealer market planner, she immediately recognized the company’s culture of integrity in her colleagues and their products.

“It was energizing to work with so many people who believe in what we do, who provide great service, and who believe that overall we’re making a positive difference in people’s lives,” she says.

Tirado says that while TFS’s products–finance and lease contracts, and extended service coverage–are not as “sexy” as the Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles that they sell, the organization “really is about the relationship we have with the customers who own those cars,” and with the dealers who sell them.

“Dealers can choose any number of financial institutions to get the funding for the customer,” she says. “But we do have a good market share right now, and we have a lot of dealers who are loyal to TFS. They see TFS as part of the Toyota family, so there’s an incredible amount of cachet and trust there.”

Paredes says that although many customers are focused on getting the best rate possible when financing an automobile purchase, she enjoys the challenge of building brand recognition for TFS.

“[Customers] may not necessarily ask for us by name, and that’s one of the challenges for us,” says Paredes, who minored in communications at CSU Dominguez Hills. “I love being part of the TFS brand department and developing an external brand strategy. It’s really a way to let [consumers] know what a great brand we have and how we stand behind the experience that we give and the products that we sell.”

Comparing the divergent career paths that led them to Toyota, Paredes and Tirado credit their success with capitalizing on wherever opportunity led them. Tirado was introduced to Toyota while working as a proofreader and copywriter for a local design firm that was contracted by Toyota. She says that the variety of courses she took while at CSU Dominguez Hills was also instrumental in helping her develop her skills as a marketer.

“If you want to be in marketing, clearly you need to take some marketing courses,” she says. “But at the same time, take courses in psychology, art history, music, philosophy, history, all the arts. I think marketing is made up of all those disciplines. Look at it in terms of enlarging your frame of reference.

“Sometimes [in marketing] you have to be a psychologist. Sometimes you have to be a historian. All of that will come out in how you communicate. It’s about communication, but it’s also about understanding.”

Paredes began her 13 years of experience in the automotive industry as an intern in the customer service call center at Nissan while still a student at CSU Dominguez Hills.

“I think until you actually work in a company, there is no way you can really imagine how it’s going to be,” she says. “Students should consider doing internships, and just talking to people. Talk to people who are already working. Ask them detailed questions about what they do, what they like about it, what they did to get there.”

Echoing the manner in which Toyota has developed its internal brand recognition in order to bolster its external image, Tirado says that students should also consider what they are developing as their personal “brand” while preparing to graduate and enter the workforce.

“When you look at what the definition of ‘brand’ is, we also kind of represent our own brands here,” she says. “When you’re a student, you’re trying to absorb everything you can. When you go out into the world, whether to a job or a career, you have to ask yourself, what is [my] brand about? It takes time to build a brand, but then also as you work, it takes time for others to build trust in a brand.

“There are attributes I [think of] for the ‘Tatsumi Paredes’ brand: responsibility, intelligence, warmth, sensitivity. When I think of Toyota, I think of quality, dependability, reliability. I think that’s what every person on this planet should ask themselves: What are my attributes and how will I contribute them?”

For more information on the English department at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.

For more information on the communications department at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.

Solomon Marmor (1926-2010): Founding Chemistry Professor Helped Establish Original Watt Campus

August 5, 2010 By admin

Dr. Solomon Marmor, emeritus professor of chemistry, died last week at the age of 84 from injuries sustained from a recent fall. The Seattle resident was a member of the founding faculty of California State University, Dominguez Hills from 1966 to 1985.

“Our original faculty had an incredible variety of people, not only in academic disciplines, but in personality,” says Judson Grenier, emeritus professor of history (1966-1992). “Sol was an instant leader, but one with a wry sense of humor that often brought us back to reality or poured calm over troubled waters. He was simply someone with whom it was a lot of fun to work, and he was sharp as hell. He always smiled when exposing our foibles.”

Virginia Knauss (Class of ’84, B.S., biology), a former student and semi-retired department secretary for the chemistry, biochemistry, earth sciences and physics departments, had Marmor as her organic chemistry professor.

“He was a marvelous, upbeat person with a wonderful sense of humor,” she says. “He was an excellent teacher.”

Emeritus professor of chemistry George Wiger says, “Here’s how I will remember Sol: A full life, well lived.”

In a 2005 interview by Grenier, Marmor recalled his arrival at what was then California State College, Dominguez Hills, when the campus was moved from its original site in Palos Verdes to the Watt Campus in Carson.

“My wife and I arrived in the summer of 1966, just in time to help move the college from Palos Verdes,” Marmor said. “I volunteered our services to transporting some of the delicate instruments owned by the chemistry department, and my wife carried the glass-encased analytical balance on her lap as I drove very slowly to Victoria Street. The balance, and we, survived intact.”

Solomon Marmor was born on Feb. 25, 1926, in New York City and grew up in the Bronx. He earned his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from City College of New York and his doctorate in organic chemistry from Syracuse University. His first job was as a research chemist for Buffalo Electro Chemical Company (BECCO), FMC Corporation from 1952 to 1956.

Marmor decided to give up private industry in favor of academics and began his teaching career at Utica College as an assistant professor of chemistry. He also taught at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M. from 1962 to 1966, where he served as head of the chemistry department before arriving at CSU Dominguez Hills in 1966.

During his career at CSU Dominguez Hills, Marmor served as acting dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (now the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences), chair of the chemistry department, and coordinator of interdepartmental programs. He was also the author of four textbooks: “General and Biological Chemistry” (1961, W.B. Saunders Co.); “Laboratory Guide for Organic Chemistry” (1964, D.C. Heath and Company); “Laboratory Methods in Organic Chemistry” (1981, Burgess Publishing Company); and “Organic Chemistry: A Brief Course” (1987, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).

Professor of chemistry Dr. Sofia Pappatheodorou joined the CSU Dominguez Hills faculty in 1985 just as Marmor began participating in the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) and teaching a reduced course load. She remembers him for his kindness to her as a junior member of the chemistry faculty, which at that time was a male-dominated field, and as a staunch supporter of the university’s Science Society. She says that later generations knew of the founding faculty member through her continued–and continuing–use of “Laboratory Methods in Organic Chemistry,” and “Organic Chemistry: A Brief Course.”

“He was stern but he was genuine,” says Pappatheodorou. “He led [students] through the understanding of ‘why it was that way.’ When I previously taught at Cal State Fresno, my colleagues said that Marmor’s lab book was the best in the nation. He didn’t ‘feed’ the students information; he was actually training them to ‘fish.’”

Jonathan Marmor (Class of ’79, B.A., communications) remembers being on the Watt campus with his father.

“The original campus was an apartment building across Victoria Street from the current campus,” he recalls. “My father used to take me to his lab there all the time. The land that is home to the current campus used to be a big, empty field.”

Dr. Marmor is survived by sons Jonathan and Jason (Class of ’89, M.A., public history and historic preservation), daughters-in-law Lisa and Fran, and six grandchildren. Marmor’s wife of 54 years, Lynne Marmor, died in 2008.

Details for a memorial service are pending. Messages of condolence may be sent to Jonathan Marmor, 2505 NE 137th St.. Seattle, WA. 98125.

Geetanjali Ashok: International MBA Student Takes Team to First Place in Business Plan Contest

July 29, 2010 By admin

Geetanjali Ashok, an MBA student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, won first prize with her team in a business plan competition during the Emerging Minority Business Leaders (EMBL) Program held last month at West Liberty University in West Liberty, W. Va. Ashok’s team, which was made up of students from UC Berkeley, Hunter College, Jackson State University, Miami International University, and North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University, has been invited to deliver their presentation on a glucose monitoring device for diabetics to the US Department of Commerce this fall at the annual conference of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds in October in order to find investors who may invest up to $1 million to launch the business.

Ashok, who earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting at Tilkamanjhi Bhagalpur University in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India, says that the experience and skills she gained as a certified public accountant in India proved to be invaluable in the development of the financial component of the group’s plan for Excel-A-Sense, a product that uses microelectromechanical (MEMS) systems to keep track of a patient’s glucose levels.

“When I work on a team or in a group, I learn about what we do here and use my experience of what I had [in India],” says Ashok. “I was the person who took care of all the finances [in our business plan]. I think it helped my team because they didn’t have to think about the finances; it was my job. The judges were very impressed by the figures: how we monitored them, and how we knew in the first three years we would not have any profit because we were launching a product. I calculated the return in equity and how much we would pay our investors when selling our business, which was the true [profit].”

Ashok says that she was inspired to choose the patent for Excel-A-Sense from the choices offered to the students for personal reasons.

“My mom and my dad are diabetic patients,” she says. “I used to see them prick themselves frequently with all the pain. When you’re diabetic, your wounds don’t heal so fast, so there’s always a chance of infection. I was just thinking of something that would be of help to so many people.”

Ashok also serves as a teacher’s assistant for the MBA Online program and says she is very impressed by the faculty’s level of commitment and professionalism.

“I have taken online classes elsewhere,” says Ashok, “but here, the classes are more connected, the teachers are more dedicated to them. They answer your questions, they know what you need help with and they give you immediate feedback. If you are stuck on any question, you can email them and in a couple of hours, you will get an answer.”

Ashok, who is taking a hybrid of online and classroom courses through the MBA Online program, says that being able to experience classroom learning and interacting with students from across the globe who are attending CSU Dominguez Hills remotely has been an enriching experience.

“I was given a team project, a case study,” Ashok says. “One of my teammates was in the Middle East and one was in Poland. We collaborated [using] each other’s knowledge. People from all over the world can be on one platform here.”

Ashok says the diversity of the student population is also an opportunity to prepare her and her classmates to enter a global workforce. They are learning various cultural etiquette and customs from each other and that knowledge can be a critical asset while conducting business in other countries.

“When you are dealing with someone in Asia, you have to be familiar to them,” she says. “They must know you, then they’ll do business. Here we do business just talking to strangers. In Japan, they prefer to talk to men, not the ladies. It’s different in America; a woman can represent herself or her company.”

Although she was not familiar with CSU Dominguez Hills when she arrived on campus, Ashok says she was quickly put at ease by the familial atmosphere.

“Everybody is so friendly, everybody is so welcoming,” she says. “There are many students from different backgrounds. It’s a very good place to interact. The teachers and professors all are very friendly here. At every step, they help you out.

“There are many helpful professors, especially the MBA director, Mr. Ken Poertner. He’s very motivating, he’s very encouraging. I took two of Prof. Kirti Celly’s classes; she just inspires me. She’s a really good teacher, she knows her subject. She gives you personal feedback, she tells you what you have to do, which way you are going.”

For more information on the online MBA program at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.

Anthropology Students Get a Taste of Cacao Farming In Chiapas

July 29, 2010 By admin

Many students at California State University, Dominguez Hills spend their summers in various internships in a diversity of fields. Not that many students at the metropolitan institution, however, can say they had the opportunity to work on a rural chocolate farm in Mexico.

Anthropology students worked alongside cacao farmers in Chiapas during a two-week ethnoecology study led by Janine Gasco, associate professor of anthropology. Two cacao farmers in Soconusco were assisted by CSU Dominguez Hills students Maria Toral (standing), John Garcia, and Ana Mendoza of CSU Northridge.

In June, associate professor of anthropology Janine Gasco took students in her Introduction to Mesoamerican Ethnoecology class on a two-week excursion to the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico, for a look at local agriculture. In collaboration with a local nonprofit, La Red Maya de Organizaciones Orgánicas (CASFA), Gasco and her students assisted the area’s cacao farmers and studied the methods and culture in which they grow a product famous among chocolate makers worldwide, and whether or not their farming practices were sustainable.

During their trip, Gasco’s class had a unique opportunity to witness CASFA’s efforts to teach cacao farmers how to monitor their cacoa trees for signs of the deadly fungus monilia, and the painstaking maintenance that it would take to prevent em from losing entire orchards.

“We were able to see how people responded to the new tools, plus we were there to help them to go out and actually use the tools,” Gasco says. “A byproduct for the interest of the class was to see how people reacted to new ideas. Some farmers would literally say ‘Thank you very much’ for the tool, go put it in a corner of their house, and then take us out to their field with their machete. And others… saw in a minute why this was going to help. We did see some entire orchards that had been pulled up because [they were] infected. It’s going to be interesting in the long run because some farmers are not going to take the advice and they’re going to lose everything.”

Gasco says that the methods that CASFA is trying to introduce involve “radical changes for [farmers]. Traditional farmers everywhere are really suspicious of outsiders coming in and telling them what to do.” The nonprofit is encouraging the cacao farmers to begin watching their trees for signs of monilia, removing infected pods before the disease can spread, and pruning the trees to allow more sunlight in the orchards which would prevent the fungus from developing in a dark, humid atmosphere.

Another lesson that Gasco’s students took away from their trip was being afforded a glimpse of daily life among the farmers in Soconusco, which despite the poverty in some villages, was self-sustaining and afforded the visitors great hospitality.

“It was a whole cultural experience,” says Gasco. “We’d work in the cacao orchards, then they would take us back to their houses and feed us. So we got the chance to interact with the whole family, to see how a household works, and how different the houses were. We would get a sense of their lifestyle, their socioeconomic status, and how many people lived in the household. One family [had] a truck, a washing machine, and a stove. Another family had just a few light bulbs and no bathroom. They didn’t have anything electronic and cooked over a wood stove.”

Students observed age-old methods used in the growing and harvesting of cacao, such as the drying of cacao seeds outdoors in the sun.

“People eat what they grow. Even really poor families eat well; we would have these amazing banquets. Nobody’s starving there because things grow like crazy. A few extra people show up for breakfast and [they say], ‘Tell the kids to get a few more eggs from the chicken,’ ‘Go cut up a chile and we’ll make some salsa.’ It was really neat to see how you could put together a meal with what they had around the house.”
Gasco has worked with cacao farmers in Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico to connect them with chocolate makers, most notably Askinosie Chocolate of Springfield, Mo. She has confidence that the ability of manufacturers to know the source of crops like cacao, vanilla, coffee, and tropical fruit holds great cache for niche markets.
“Every chocolate maker knows about Soconusco cacao because historically, it was the best chocolate,” she says. [Trade] is so undeveloped there because there is no infrastructure for marketing and there aren’t a lot of middlemen who are experienced in exporting. I’m just hopeful that… there’ll be other chocolate makers who are interested in having relationships with the actual farmers and meeting them and knowing exactly where the cacao is coming from.
“I came back very optimistic because there really is a growing interest internationally where you are supporting local farmers and organic production, both for your own health, the health of the farmers and the health of the earth. It’s a small thing but I think it’s growing.”

John Garcia, a junior majoring in Chicana/o studies, says that the visit to Soconusco gave him an appreciation for what life must have been like for his ancestors’own rural existence.

“My grandfathers also lived off the land in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, Mexico,” he says. “One is still living and currently resides here in the states, but still maintains a smaller plot of land. They would grow and often sell sugar cane, corn, beans, onions, and many [other crops]. All of their harvest was grown organically and they also resisted the use of chemical pesticides.”

Garcia values the chance to work with CASFA, “an organization that works directly with communities in Chiapas, supporting people’s right to choose their own way of life.”

“Interacting with the farmers on a personal scale also allowed us to gain insight into their views and outlook on many aspects of life,” he says. “This trip has definitely broadened my experience and has allowed me to gain a new perspective and understanding
of undergoing changes in traditional ways of life that not only Chiapas but most countries in the world are currently experiencing. It was great to be able to understand the changes, and connect the dots which reveal their causes.”

Mike Young, a graduate of the anthropology program at CSU Long Beach, joined Gasco and her students on their trip to Chiapas. Although he visited the area last year, he says that “having done this class, I feel as if [my previous] experience was more as a tourist.”

“I have felt something magical both times I have been to this region of Mexico and I am planning on incorporating Chiapas and ethnoecology into my graduate studies,” says Young. “I fell in love with the people, the landscape, and the energy of Chiapas and plan to be involved with this topic for years to come. My interest has now become a passion and I will continue on the path Dr. Gasco helped me find on this trip.”

Elsie Heredia, a senior with a double major in liberal studies and anthropology, was amazed at seeing the origins of popular foods such as chocolate.

“I was intrigued and became enamored with the antique and very effective techniques used by campesinos (farmers) in the area. Intercropping, using shade, and using organic residue as fertilizers are techniques that are used in the area by traditional farmers only because they have proven to be effective for many generations. When I eat a chocolate now, I close my eyes and have flashbacks of smiling farmers and their families working in the beautiful Chiapas fields.”

Heredia says that her mentors in the anthropology department have been instrumental in shaping the teacher she hopes to become.

“Through my study of anthropology I think I will be a better teacher because I understand and can analyze social interactions and contexts as well biological processes and historical facts which have influenced [these] contexts,” she says. “I chose to double major in anthropology because the professors in the department have led me to realize that humanity is worth studying. I have realized that humans are complex yet simple; all humans differ yet we all have the same needs and desires. Even though I have chosen to take a career in which I will be labeled as an ‘educator,’ I feel that I will be an anthropologist from now on.”

For more information on the anthropology department at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.

Gloria Lopez: History Major Awarded Getty Multicultural Internship

July 15, 2010 By admin

When Gloria Lopez was in the seventh grade at Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles, her teacher taught her and her classmates that history was “more than just memorizing dates and events, it is about understanding different cultures and their experiences.” Later at Belmont High School, her passion for 20th century European and Latin American history was encouraged by her tenth grade teacher.

“History is the one subject that I find the most intriguing,” says Lopez. “Back in the tenth grade I found it interesting to learn about World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, about Hitler, and about communism. Now, I enjoy learning the stories of the people that lived during these wars and what their lives were like.”

The history major at California State University, Dominguez Hills participated in the Practicum in Applied History program last semester as a research intern at the Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War in Los Angeles. This summer, she was awarded a Getty Multicultural Internship, which supports summer interns at various institutions. She is transcribing the documentation of Wende’s Ferris/Komov Poster Collection, as well as cataloging the collection. The project involves providing descriptions, photographing the posters, and writing comprehensive biographies on the artists.

“It is my job to put in writing the message that the artist was conveying in the context of life in the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s and in the Russian Federation in the early 1990’s,” says Lopez. “In every upper division history class I have taken, my professors have helped me develop my research and writing skills. We are taught to critically analyze historical documents in the context of their day and we are trained to clearly communicate a thesis, both orally and in writing. I get to put these skills to the test on a daily basis as a research intern.”

Lopez says that the Wende is focused on “preserving a record of a disappearing culture” of the former Warsaw Pact states with an emphasis on life in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Although the fall of the Berlin Wall took place in 1989, she notes that to the younger generation, the event is ancient history.

“Life behind the Iron Curtain is being rapidly historicized,” she says. “If one visits a museum like the Getty Center and/or LACMA, [they can see] art of cultures that have been gone for hundreds of years,” she says. “At the Wende Museum, one finds artifacts of everyday life from no more than fifty years ago. You can still go to Germany and find some of these artifacts – such as radios, old magazines, and soldiers’ uniforms – hiding in an attic.”

Lopez says that her internship, which has included duties such as assisting with museum tours, gathering objects to be displayed, and helping to put together a website for an upcoming exhibition, has been “fun!”

“I went into the internship with no expectations, [but] full of a curiosity to learn,” she says. “I have had the opportunity to meet people who remember living in Berlin when the Wall was up; I found it fascinating to hear their stories. These kinds of links make history intriguing.”

Looking ahead to graduate or law school, Lopez says that her experiences as a history major at CSU Dominguez Hills and an intern at the Wende Museum have helped her to “think like a researcher.”

“This particular skill will make being a graduate student much easier,” she says. “The most exciting thing is knowing that you have contributed to the study of history. It makes me feel that I am a part of something.”

For more information about the history department at CSU Dominguez Hills, click here.

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