Salary Agreement OK'd by CFA

A tentative contract agreement was accepted by the California Faculty Association, whose members voted an overwhelming 97 percent in favor of the contract. The CSU Trustees will put the contract to a vote at their May 15-16 meeting. The terms of the new contract guarantee a 20.7 percent pay raise for faculty over four years, costing the total CSU system more than $400 million, university officials said.

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Colleges Discuss Campus Safety

Students and other community members at CSULB will have a chance to voice their concerns about campus safety following the month of April's tragic incident at Virginia Tech.

The meeting will be held Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the University Student Union, room 224.

Panelists will include people from Housing and Residential Life, University Interfaith Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, University Police and Associated Students, Inc.

A similar panel discussion was held Monday at the nearby Long Beach City College where panelists stressed the need to install phones in classrooms that would connect with campus police and emergency services.

The meeting will be hosted by the CSULB Dean of Students office. For more information, call the dean's office at 562/985-8670.

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Kaleidoscope Festival 2007

Since 1985, CSULB has hosted an annual festival that features food, entertainment, games, music and nearly 200 exhibits and displays. More than 30,000 people attend the family-fun festival each year, including CSULB students, families, children, and local school, community, government and business groups.

This year, the festival was held Saturday, April 28, 2007. The campus was sectioned off into six main areas, each with activities hosted by designated organizations such as student associations or local businesses. 1-800-DENTIST offered an irresistably free dental referral service in the Health Fair area and Grupo Folkloria Mexica served "antojitos Mexicanos" in the International Marketplace area.

The Kaleidoscope Festival attracts both local residents as well as visitors from the surrounding communities and helps to portray a positive image of the City of Long Beach.

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Image credit: CSULB

Urban Myth: CSULB is Looking to Become a UC

For many years, the same rumor has been circling around the CSULB student body -- CSULB will soon turn into a UC. But Dr. Elena Macias, assistant vice president of the CSULB Office of Governmental and Community Relations assures that the rumor is far from the truth and simply an urban myth. CSULB may be one of the largest universities in the CSU system, but it will not become a UC anytime soon.

"People have been talking about the need for more campuses," said Dr. Macias. "What some proponents are saying is, 'Turn some of the CSU campuses into UCs, turn some of the community colleges into four-year institutions and that way, you don't have to spend as much money on capital expenditures.' But that is all an urban legend."

Students Weigh In On Tuition Fee Increase

News of a 10 percent tuition increase approved by the CSU Board of Trustees last month has circulated around campus and some students are not amused.

Student activists at CSULB urged their fellow students Tuesday to sign petitions asking legislators to stop the $252 hike in next fall's undergraduate student fees. Graduate students will pay an extra $312 per year.

The fee increase may hurt students of an essentially commuter school who work in order to get a college education.

"I think the increase is unfair and the government is probably not going to listen to our petitions," said Misty, a senior with a double major in political science and philosophy. "It's really just going to do whatever it wants to do."

Other students look at the potential benefits of a tuition fee increase.

"It's a fair price if it means it will bring improvement," said Alex, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering. "If more money for the faculty means better professors, then it's OK."

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Rep. Juanita Millender-McDoland Dies

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, a seven-term congresswoman from southern California, died at her home in Carson early Sunday of cancer. She was 68.

Details on what form of cancer were not immediately available.

She represented a heavily Democratic southern California district that includes Compton, Long Beach and part of Los Angeles.

Colleagues regard her as a "champion for the consumer" who "always valued public service."

Millender-McDonald is survived by her husband, James McDonald, Jr. and five adult children.

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Image credit: AOL News

Gunman's Writings Released

Current AOL employee Ian McFarlane is a former classmate of the gunman, now identified as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior who had been majoring in English. McFarlane and Seung Cho took a playwriting class together. The class would conduct peer reviews of each other's plays, as many classes do in several other subjects as well. It was McFarlane who described Seung Cho's writings as "twisted" and "macabre" as reported on CNN and other news networks.

McFarlane has released two of Seung Cho's plays for an AOL Exclusive and can be found at AOL News. Please be aware that the content of the writings is graphic and disturbing.

As McFarlane asked: Should teachers and students have access to a system where authorities can be notified of suspicious or unusual behavior such as that of Seung Cho?

What would you do if you read something similar in an assignment written by one of your peers?

MTV's Virtual Memorial

In a modern age of news driven by virtual technology, the web has provided a new vehicle for Virginia Tech victims trying to cope and come to terms with the shooting incident that claimed the lives of 33 people. MTV News has collected and posted several links to websites of Virginia Tech students offering their personal accounts of the situation and student bloggers elsewhere offering their condolences for the victims and their families.

How Safe Is Our Campus?

As the story of the deadliest incident of school shootings in modern U.S. history develops, campuses around the country are examining their own safety precautions and plans of action should an episode like this repeat itself. Although there is no predicting such a devastating act by a mass killer, policies and procedures help universities better respond to similar situations.

President F. King Alexander issued a written statement to students in an e-mail sent Monday night reassuring them that CSULB has adopted the aforementioned policies and procedures and trains its University Police Department for possible emergencies. Other groups such as the Student Crisis Management Committee, administrators and employees across the campus consistently address an entire spectrum of contingencies.

"Even with this advanced planning, however, there is no guarantee that events such as the Virginia Tech shooting can be prevented," President Alexander said. "All we can do it prepare and lessen the likelihood of such an occurrence through our own personal awareness and mutual sense of responsibility."

Report any unusual circumstances that may pose a threat to the campus community by contacting the University Police Department at 562/985-4101.

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Image credit: CNN