A CSUN student works with a member of the community as part of 100 Citizens. Photo courtesy of Steven Loy.

California State University, Northridge’s Department of Kinesiology is teaming up with the health departments of Pasadena, Long Beach and Los Angeles County, and the American Diabetes Association, to host the first Southern California Diabetes Prevention Programs Summit on Friday, Sept. 20, at Recreation Park in San Fernando.

The summit is scheduled to take place from 8 a.m. to noon at the park at 208 Park Ave. in San Fernando. The event will throw the spotlight on CSUN’s innovative “100 Citizens” program, which was recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House earlier this year. The multi-generational physical activity program asks parents and grandparents to exercise and eat better, thereby teaching their children by example.

“With obesity on the rise and physical inactivity so high in the population, the risk for diabetes is also rising,” said CSUN kinesiology professor Steven Loy, one of the creators of the 100 Citizen Project.

Loy and a team of students spent more than a year working with San Fernando recreation officials to design a free, ongoing fitness program that would dispel the misconception that one has to join a fitness center or be a serious athlete to stay healthy.

In addition to the “100 Citizens” program, the symposium will discuss other diabetes prevention programs currently operating in Los Angeles County.

“The ultimate goal,” said Loy, “is to understand the populations at highest risk for diabetes and the number of people with pre-diabetes. And then, in turn, develop collaborative strategies for motivating individuals and their healthcare providers to invest in diabetes prevention seriously and take the steps necessary to reduce their risks for diabetes. We also want to identify additional resources or strategies to support and expand resources for diabetes prevention programs.

“You don’t have to have a lot of money or gimmicks to help people achieve healthier lifestyles: it’s as simple as creatively using the resources we already have,” he said

For more information, visit the website http://tinyurl.com/scdppsregister. To learn more about “100 Citizens,” you can view a short video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp2pwZoElSs&feature=youtu.be.

President Dianne F. Harrison (left) with, from left to right, Harrison Leadership Award winner Madalyne Handy, finalist Karla Montenegro and finalist Ashley Kritzer. Photo by Lee Choo.

This year’s California State University, Northridge Freshman Convocation included a new element: the presentation of the first annual Dianne F. Harrison Leadership Award to sophomore Madalyne Handy.

Created upon the occasion of President Harrison’s investiture as CSUN’s president last spring, the $5,000 award recognizes a student who has completed the freshman year for his or her leadership, as demonstrated by involvement in student government, a campus club or a student organization. Awardees must have a GPA of at least 3.0. To be presented each fall, this scholarship supports the university’s emerging student leaders, furthering a culture of leadership on campus while also building the community’s next generation of leading voices.

Handy, a kinesiology major, completed 57 units by her third semester at CSUN with a GPA of 3.96. In addition to excelling in the classroom, Handy is also a member of the Matador softball team. As President Harrison shared during the award presentation, Handy’s coach, Tairia Flowers, wrote that that Handy “pushes herself and everyone around her to be better, work harder and to become mentally tougher.” Handy also serves as a Supplemental Instruction Leader for statistics, working with a class of about 20 statistics students.

During the ceremony, President Harrison also recognized the two finalists for the award: Ashley Kritzer, a deaf studies major, and Karla Montenegro, a management major. President Harrison thanked all three students for the “inspiring work that [they] have undertaken thus far as students who are truly models of success for all of our students and our new freshman class.”

Handy, who hopes to become a teacher, said the award will spur her to continue her focus on peer leadership at CSUN. “Being recognized as a leader on campus through this scholarship has already began to pave the way for my future involvement with our amazing institution,” she said. “These next three years, I commit to being the best leader I can be in the classroom, on the field and in the community.”

Handy, who said she strives to “lead by example through hard work, passion and dedication,” is grateful to the donors to the Harrison Leadership Award Fund, whose gifts fund the scholarship. “I want to thank the supporters for this scholarship,” she said. “Their help creates a stronger Northridge that is able to stay connected with its alumni and community. Donations like this and help from outside supporters truly makes CSUN the heartbeat of the Valley.”

For more: You can help other students by contributing to CSUN student scholarships.

Traditional Japanese pastry from Mannendou Bakery, Tokyo, used in a Chano-yu ceremony. Photo credit: Yasumi Miyazawa.

“Let Them Eat Cake,” the latest documentary by award-winning California State University, Northridge film professor Alexis Krasilovsky, takes a global view of the perils and pleasures of pastry.

The public is invited to join CSUN students, faculty and staff for a special sneak preview of the film at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, in the Elaine and Alan Armer Theater in Manzanita Hall near the southwest corner of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

What makes the world of pastry making and consumption so dark? How can something that is a sweet expression of cultural values and love make you sick and, in come cases, even kill you? “Let Them Eat Cake” explores the answers to both those questions by focusing on issues such as diabetes, obesity and hunger.

“Meeting filmmakers at festivals around the world compelled me to think transnationally and transculturally while making ‘Let Them Eat Cake,’ said Krasilovsky, who was joined by co-producers Sanjoy Ghosh of India and Hamidou Soumah, who teaches international cinema at CSUN, and unit directors from many other countries. “By working together, I believe our film will have the strongest possible impact in addressing the world hunger crisis.”

“Let Them Eat Cake” is a shorter version of the award-winning documentary, “Pastriology,” which Krasilovsky made about the world of pastry-making and consumption. Both movies take a global perspective of the subject and were filmed in such countries as Japan, Mexico, Peru, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, France and the United States. The film illustrates its points by showing how pastry makers in France decorate their lavish cakes and pastries in affluent neighborhood shops, while in India sugarcane workers toil in the hot sun and in the Republic of Guinea children pick cocoa pods on their families’ plantations.  For more information, see http://pastriology.com.

The evening will begin with a pre-screening reception at 6:30 p.m. The 7:30 p.m. screening will be followed by a panel discussion at 8:30 p.m. While the screening is free, reservations are recommended. To make a reservation, email camc@csun.edu or call (818) 677-2246. Parking on campus is $6. Daily parking permits may be purchased as booths or online at www.thepermitstore.com/csun/event.

Krasilovsky, who wrote, directed and co-produced “Let Them Eat Cake” and “Pastriology,” teaches screenwriting and media theory and criticism in CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts. She is the winner of the 2011 Gdańsk DocFilm Festival lifetime achievement award and the Tribute Award “for achievements in independent cinema” from the 2008 San Francisco Women’s Film Festival. Her other films include “Women Behind the Camera,” about women cinematographers around the world and winner of five best documentary awards; “End of the Art World,” starring Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg; “Just Between Me & God,” an environmental love story from West Memphis, Ark., and “Beale Street,” a video about the street where Martin Luther King last marched before his assassination.

The screening is co-sponsored by CSUN’s Departments of Cinema and Television Arts, Journalism and Pan-African Studies; the American Indian Studies Program; the Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics; and Phi Beta Delta, the honor society for international scholars.

Clients in one of the Brown Center’s pools. Photo courtesy of the College of Health and Human Development.

When the Brown Center for Adaptive Aquatic Therapy opened 10 years ago, California State University, Northridge officials knew that the center would positively impact persons with physical challenges, but not to what extent.

“The addition of the Brown Center has had a huge impact on our clients and students,” said Carol Bennett, operations manager of CSUN’s Center of Achievement Through Adapted Physical Activity, which houses the Brown Center. “Positive feedback from those attending the center’s aquatic programs happens on a daily basis. People are excited and motivated with the increased flexibility and endurance they have while in the pool.”

University officials will be celebrating the Brown Center’s 10 years of service to the community on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 10 a.m. to noon with a special reception and tours of the facility. The Abbott and Linda Brown Western Center for Adaptive Aquatic Therapy is located at the northeast corner of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The Brown Center opened in 2003 as a natural extension of the land-based programs of the Center of Achievement, which has been providing internationally recognized adapted fitness programs for persons with disabilities since 1971. In addition to providing therapeutic exercise programs for individuals with physical challenges, the Center of Achievement also trains students as professionals in health and rehabilitation-related fields.

The addition of the Brown Center provided water-based exercise programs that give even those with serious or chronic physical challenges, including children, freedom of movement with little or no pain. This is primarily due to the buoyancy of water, which provides an ideal environment for the body to function with reduced gravitational stress.

The 18,400-square-foot Brown Center consists of a main 60-foot-by-24-foot heated therapy pool with two underwater treadmills; a 30-foot by-24-foot heated pool with a vertically adjustable floor; a 17-foot-by-10-foot spa aimed at helping those with joint and soft tissue issues; and a 26-foot-by-24-foot activity pool.

CSUN’s Center of Achievement serves about 450 community and student clients each semester, about 295 of which are served by the Brown Center.

While the anniversary celebration is open to the public, attendees are requested to RSVP to becky.obrien@csun.edu by Oct. 16.

To learn more about the Center of Achievement and the Brown Center, visit the website http://www.csun.edu/hhd/kin/capd.html.

Tharini Shanmugarajah

Dance is more than just movement for California State University, Northridge senior Tharini Shanmugarajah. For her, it’s an art form that communicates emotion, translates ideas, crosses cultural divides and creates community.

The kinesiology major’s passion for dance led her to CSUN and will take her next summer to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where she will join other dancers in a special performance of Indian classical dancing known as Bharatanatyam.

“The Kennedy Center performance next summer is part of a tour,” said Shanmugarajah. “It’s a stop along the way. We are traveling across the country, performing Indian classical dance and hopefully raising greater appreciation for Indian culture.”

Her journey will begin next month, when Shanmugarajah finishes the last of her classes at CSUN and flies to India for several months of rehearsal. She and other members of the internationally recognized Kalakshetra, one of India’s most revered cultural academies, will return to North America in the summer of 2014 for a three-month tour throughout the United States and Canada. So far, they have about 15 performances scheduled, including the Kennedy Center.

“Tharini’s talent as a dance artist is at a world-class level, and her dedication to learning about the human body and how best to train and teach others to perform has shaped her into one of the most disciplined and insightful students at CSUN,” said kinesiology professor Paula Thomson, who heads CSUN’s dance program. “She is a joy to create with and she is a joy to watch perform.”

Shanmugarajah, 25, of Northridge, credited Thomson with cementing her passion for dance and giving her the faith to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional dancer and someday opening a dance studio for people who love the art as much as she does.

“I started at CSUN in the fall of 2011, and Paula was basically the first person I met,” Shanmugarajah said. “Since that day, she has been my life saver, guiding me through enrollment, in classes and even in my decisions about dance. She has been an amazing teacher and mentor, as so many of my teachers at CSUN have been.”

Shanmugarajah started taking classical Indian dance lessons from her mother when she was four and started ballet lessons a year later. “Dance is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

She said she grew up “just down the street from CSUN,” and decided to check out the university’s dance program on a whim.

“I didn’t know that CSUN even had one, and then Paula talked to me about majoring in kinesiology,” Shanmugarajah said. “I am so glad that I did. I love kinesiology, which is the study of human movement. I have learned so much about things that as a dancer you don’t think about but can really affect how you dance. I’ve learned how to avoid injuries, to truly appreciate how the human body moves and, when I teach, how to guide my dancers so that they can avoid injury and use their bodies to their fullest.”

Shanmugarajah said she is taking those lessons with her to India and plans to share them with her fellow dancers in Sahrdaya, the formal name of the dance company she will be touring North America with next year. She said the tour’s performances will feature a unique mix of dance, dialogue and poetry, with the theme based on the 1998 movie “Sliding Doors,” in which a young woman’s love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train.

“The idea centers on the fact that the performers are all different people at a train station and what happens, or would not happen, when our individual paths cross,” Shanmugarajah said. “Some people are meant to cross paths, but have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had never met that person?

“The upcoming rehearsals and training in India have really got me thinking about the theme of our show,” she added. “I always think about the theme in terms of Paula. I don’t think what I have achieved in the past two years would have happened if I had not met her and come to CSUN.”

Once the tour is complete, Shanmugarajah said she hopes to return to the San Fernando Valley and open her own dance studio not far from the CSUN campus so that she can offer students and faculty a place to practice and share their art when university facilities are overbooked or when the passion for dance takes them beyond the classroom.

“It’s the one way I know how to give back to an institution and people who have given me so much,” she said.

The holidays can be filled with laughter, fun and gatherings of family and friends that may not always include healthy choices. The faculty in California State University, Northridge’s College of Health and Human Development have some advice to ensure the festivities don’t damage the wallet or waistline.

“We can stay fit, eat well and still have fun,” said Terri Lisagor, interim chair of CSUN’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

The first tip, from recreation and tourism management professor Craig Finney. He said “play.”

“Did you know that games with rules reinforce cultural behaviors, and games without rules invite creativity?” Finney asked. “Try mixing it up these holidays. Play an established game a new way: decide how to play as you go. The only rule: be respectful of each other—no rule stands unless all players are in agreement.”

Finney also suggested that people be inventive.

“Pretend play—no rules and spontaneous—moderates your psycho-physiological condition and reduces stress,” he said. “Studies have shown play not only makes you feel better while your having fun, it actually does make you happier over the long run.”

Amidst all the partying, kinesiology professor Steven Loy advised people not to lose their focus on fitness.

“Holiday time brings on extra calories, and not necessarily in the most nutritious forms,” Loy said. “Walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Whatever your fitness routine, keep it going.”

Loy noted that one doesn’t have to work out in one large lump of time each day for the exercise to be of benefit. It can be done in small increments.

He also warned people to beware of “holiday weight creep.”

“It’s so very real, but most people don’t report noticing the creep until January,” he said. “Skip the idle ‘treats’ on the counters and in the break room at work. That way, after your holiday dinner, you can honestly say you have room for pie.”

Family and consumer sciences faculty and dietetic internship director Annette Besnillian suggested that holiday revelers also use the federal government’s MyPlate guidelines during mealtimes: fill half their plate with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with whole grains and one quarter with a lean protein.

“Adding fruit to your plate helps reduce the amount of fat and refined sugar you’re likely to eat when desserts are served,” she said.

When asked to contribute a dish to a holiday potluck, Besnillian suggested bringing a Mediterranean platter. “Sliced vegetables, olives, whole grain crackers and hummus are nutritious crowd pleasers,” she said.

When it comes to money, family and consumer sciences professor Tom Cai said to plan ahead before going holiday shopping.

“Develop a gift-giving budget, make a list of gift recipients and set a spending range for each person,” he said. “Be realistic about your holiday budget, and stay within it.”

He also suggested using cash when shopping.

“Withdraw a set amount and leave your credit cards at home to reinforce staying within your budget,” Cai said. “You can enjoy the feeling of knowing you’re paying on the spot—and no extra bills, or interest charges, will hit you in January.”

Family and consumer sciences professor Yoko Mimura said there is one more thing to keep in mind.

“Holidays are often about celebrating something meaningful with loved ones,” she said. “This does not have to cost a lot of money.”

Determined to fight one of the most preventable diseases among children–dental caries (cavities)–California State University, Northridge professor Terri Lisagor led a team of students in November to rural Guatemala to teach families there about nutrition and oral hygiene and to be a part of a team that provides basic dental services.

Lisagor, acting chair of CSUN’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and three of her students, spent two weeks traveling along Guatemala’s Rio Dulce river, as part of an international effort to improve the health of the region’s residents.

Terri Lisagor giving a demonstration on dental hygiene in Guatemala. Photo courtesy of Hissa Alsudairy.

“Throughout the world, including the United States, dental disease is the number one preventable disease among children,” said Lisagor. “Not only are these children in pain, but the infection that is happening can get into the blood, which can travel to the brain or the heart, and could eventually lead to death.”

About 18 years ago, Lisagor, a Registered Dietitian, and her husband, a pediatric dentist, got involved with a program that provides free dental care and treatment to indigenous children along the Rio Dulce. The program was started by pediatric dentist Jack Faia, who learned about the problem while on a business trip with his son-in-law. Faced with the reality of the health issues the children had to endure because of the lack of dental care, Faia partnered with a local woman, Irma Holcombe, to bring relief to the children.

“When the dental clinic first started, they were treating the pain the children were experiencing from dental infection,” said Lisagor. “Originally, they would put the children on antibiotics, take out the infected teeth and basically that was it. My role as a dietitian is more about prevention. So when I went in, I said we can’t just do the teeth. We need to teach them how to prevent cavities, how to eat healthy and how to have healthy bodies.”

Nutrition and oral hygiene education was added to the International Health Emissaries (IHE) dental project in 1995. Supplementing the clinic work being done in Bacadilla, the village where the clinic is located, Lisagor started an interactive approach to target children between the ages of 5 and 17, using health promoters to teaching about how nutrition impacts oral health and overall health. She has been able to interact with 400 children each year through the education project.

“When the children come to us at five years old, many already have rampant decay,” said Lisagor. “So even though we are making great progress, the question shifted to, ‘How do we get them before they have any of these problems?’ So we came up with the idea of talking to the mothers of the very young babies and teaching them how to prevent cavities from the very beginning.”

Jocceline Hernandez works on a child. Photo courtesy of Hissa Alsudairy,

One of the projects within the Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science Option in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences has been providing nutrition education to low-income families in the Van Nuys area. The three students who traveled with Lisagor, Hissa Alsudairy, Jocceline Hernandez and Silvia Juarez-Viveros, were all a part of that effort.

“Because we’ve been working so well together these past three years, asking them to be a part of the team was the easiest thing in the world,” said Lisagor. “My dream from the start of this project has always been to bring the younger generation in to be a part of this. We were able to make this trip part of their dietetic internship rotation, gain funding and provide an excellent hands-on-learning experience. And then getting to watch my young students change the world, that was the most memorable.”

Once the whole dental team arrived in Bacadilla, where the main dental clinic was set up, Lisagor and her team of students traveled by small boat along the Rio Dulce to reach the smaller villages.

“Because we were traveling by boat, the villagers could see us from a long way off,” said Alsudairy, a CSUN student in the dietetic internship program. “So by the time we got there, the families were on the dock waiting and excited for us to help and they were eager to learn. The conditions weren’t the greatest, but they were willing to improve to help their children become healthier.”

Hernandez, also a dietetic intern, said the “trip has made it second nature for me to pass down my knowledge to people that don’t have that type of access.”

“I was also amazed at the impact we had,” she said. “During one of the last classes, I was presenting why we were there, our purpose and so forth, and after I said we’re here to give you this information that’s very important to your children, all the mothers started to clap. And to have them react that way before I had even started the lesson plan, for them to be thanking us for delivering just those few words, was so gratifying because I could tell we were there for a big purpose.”

Lisagor said her students learned as much as they taught.

“What people never tell you is that when you give to others you always get far more from them in return,” said Lisagor. “And what my students and I received was the knowledge that education is beyond the hollowed walls of a building. It’s all about working together to make a difference.”

For more information on CSUN’s Department Family and Consumer Science’s program or on the work being done in Guatemala, please visit their website at http://www.csun.edu/health-human-development/family-consumer-sciences or call at (818) 677-3051.

CSUN child and adolescent development professor Virginia Huynh.

Parents and educators regularly lament the amount of sleep today’s teenagers get. Throw in overt or even subtle forms of racial and ethnic discrimination, and a good night’s sleep can become even harder for minority teens, according to a recent study by California State University, Northridge child and adolescent development professor Virginia Huynh.

The adverse effects of the discrimination can be mitigated, the study found, in teens who feel a strong sense of belonging to their school.

“We know adolescence is filled with stress and teens are already struggling to get enough sleep each night,” Huynh said. “If you are a minority teenager and receive unfair treatment based on race or ethnicity, that only adds to the problem, and getting a good night’s sleep is even harder.

“Adolescence is hard enough,” she continued. “Teens are trying to figure out who they are; what their role in the world is; and what it means to be a man or a woman. But if you also have to navigate what it means to be a minority and a teen of color, the stress may get worse and can have a negative impact on a teenager’s ability to sleep well, which in turn can adversely impact their health.”

Huynh conducted the study, “Discrimination and Sleep: The Protective Role of School Belonging,” with her colleague, Cari Gillen-O’Neel, a doctoral student in developmental psychology at UCLA. Published last fall by Sage Publications, it is among the first to examine how being a victim of even “minor” acts of discrimination can adversely impact a teenager’s sleep pattern. The pair specifically chose to study the impact such acts would have on Latino and Asian adolescents because so little research has been done on those communities.

“Our findings would likely be the same if we looked at African-American teens,” Huynh said.

While the researchers expected to find that overt discrimination would adversely impact a teen’s ability to sleep, Huynh said their study is among the first to document associations between “microaggressions” — subtle ways that racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes can play out in an increasingly diverse culture — and sleep.

“[The study] provides additional evidence that seemingly harmless questions and interactions may, in fact, not be harmless at all,” she said.

Huynh said she suspects that many people will be surprised by the study’s findings.

“Most people tend to think that discrimination doesn’t exist any more, and if it does, then it’s not a big deal,” she said. “But if you’re a teenager it can have a major impact. The teen years are when brain maturation takes place and a good night’s sleep is important to that process. Sleep is an important factor in all aspects of a person’s health. Even innocuous acts of discrimination can affect a teenager’s ability to sleep, and in turn, their health.”

Huynh said she believes school officials can play a role in easing the impact of the discrimination.

“School belonging can be a protective resource for adolescents,” she said. “Teens spend so much of their lives at school, and if the kids are getting sources of support at school, a place where they can talk honestly about what is happening, then they may be better able to cope.”

Something as simple as having a role model in the school, such as a minority teacher or school administrator, might help students feel that they are not alone, she said.

“If there is someone at the school, like a teacher, who they can identify with and start a conversation with about what it’s like to be a person of color trying to navigate all the expectations and stereotypes society puts on teens, teens might feel more connected and respected at school, which might make a difference,” she said.

 
Below is a video of Huynh talking about the changing face of racism.

A scene from last year’s show. Photo by Lee Choo.

The public can get a jump on the next fashion trend when California State University, Northridge apparel design and merchandising students showcase their most stylish creations at CSUN’s annual spring fashion show on Saturday, April 26.

The show, scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. in the Northridge Center of the University Student Union, throws the spotlight on the university’s graduating design and merchandising students. Seventeen students will present their collections of five to six different looks with the help of student volunteer models who will “walk the runway.”

“Our theme this year is ‘FANTASY: Once Upon a Dream,’” said Shirley Warren, apparel design and merchandising faculty and faculty producer of the fashion show. “It all beautifully comes together as the designers take us on a journey, showcasing their collections on the runway.”

A panel of judges will determine the night’s winner based on their creative presentation and technical ability. They will present prizes and awards provided by their major sponsor, Fashion Supplies Inc. Other sponsors include Milani Cosmetics and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Television personality and alumnus Rick Garcia of CBS2 News will host the evening. The fashion show is a collaboration between CSUN’s apparel design and merchandising fashion show production class in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and TRENDS, a nonprofit, student-run organization.

Tickets are $15 for students, $20 general admission through the Associated Students Box Office. For more information about the Associated Students Box Office please visit http://www.csun.edu/as/ticket-office or call (818) 677-2488.

Recreation and tourism management professor Craig Finney is spearheading the effort in Canoga Park on behalf of CSUN’s Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing. Photo by Lee Choo.

Communities are filled with resources and organizations that address a wide variety of needs. But rarely do these agencies work together to identify gaps, pool expertise or avoid duplication of services.

Hoping to strengthen the bonds in one community, a team of faculty, staff and students at California State University, Northridge has created a new initiative, Neighborhood Partners in Action (NPA), to help build bridges among community-based organizations and stakeholders in Canoga Park by fostering communication and collaboration among themselves and with the university.

“What we are attempting to do is marshal our resources to help a community marshal theirs,” said recreation and tourism management professor Craig Finney, who is spearheading the effort on behalf of CSUN’s Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing. “We’re not claiming to have all the answers because we don’t. We don’t have all the resources they need. But we can be a facilitator.

“Our job is to listen to members of the community, help them to identify what they need and then, if it’s not something that we can help them with at CSUN, we can help them identify other resources in the community or a neighboring community,” Finney said. “We want to be good neighbors. The university is a member of the community. Our faculty, staff and students are all members of the community. We have a responsibility to give back.”

Joan Maltese, executive director of the Child Development Institute (CDI) — a nonprofit provider of relationship-based early intervention and therapeutic services to children and their families that operates an early learning center in Canoga Park — could not say enough about the CSUN initiative in the community. The NPA initiative launched in the fall of 2012, about the same time Maltese and her organization were establishing their Canoga Park facility.

“The synergy of the CSUN initiative just catapulted us to a very different level of being able to provide services to the community,” she said. Teams of CSUN students and faculty helped CDI on a variety of projects, including developing duel-generation learning programs on such topics as a family savings plan and making healthy lifestyle and food choices, and developing family savings plans. They have also assisted in grant-writing development.

“We had a team of five graduate students from CSUN’s accounting department who just blew us away,” said Maltese, who now sits on NPA’s advisory council. “They made us their capstone project and set up grant-writing protocols for us. Not only did they develop an analysis flowchart of how it should work, but they made recommendations on how to work together, created forms for us, did extensive research and made sure we made the right choices when selecting software.

“The work we’re getting from CSUN’s faculty and students isn’t just an academic exercise on the university’s part,” she said. “We in the community are getting professional work, and the students are getting an opportunity to do professional work that can only enhance their careers.”

The NPA initiative has touched all parts of the Canoga Park community, Maltese said, from community-based organizations to businesses. She noted a recent conversation she had with someone at the local chamber of commerce, who praised the work CSUN students were doing with the chamber.

“The impact the university is having on this community is remarkable,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere else. They have actually come into the community and made real relationships. We are going beyond our traditional roles and creating this model where the university and the community can depend on each other. It is a culture, not an academic thing that you can do online or in a classroom. We are working as a team to make a positive impact on the students and the community.”

CSUN Provost Harry Hellenbrand said the relationships between members of Canoga Park and the university are valuable.

“We deeply believe in our partnership with the citizens and institutions of Canoga Park,” Hellenbrand said. “It is that rare thing, a community. We can learn much together.”

When the initiative launched, Finney led a group of CSUN faculty and staff on a series of “listening” sessions with Canoga Park community leaders to find out what was happening in the area and what they needed.

“People have this vision of academics — that we live in this ‘ivory tower’ and when we come out it’s we are going to ‘save you’ because we have all the answers,” Finney said. “The reality is, we don’t have all the answers. But, because we’re a university and we have all these great minds working here, we might know where to find the answers.

“Sometimes the ‘answer’ is simple, like helping find students to work as interns with a local program. Other times, it might involve working with the leadership of a particular community-based organization to design a program to fit a need they see in the community.”

In addition to the work with CDI, the CSUN initiative has assisted with the food bank at the Guadalupe Center, provided literacy assistance to R.U.T.H. YouthBuild, created theater projects with veterans through the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post and offered student and faculty support for a variety of programs at Hart and Canoga Park Elementary Schools and Columbus Middle School.

More importantly, Finney said, the NPA advisory council has deepened the relationship between CSUN and the Canoga Park community by providing a collaborative way to assess the needs in the area and find ways of addressing them.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” Finney said.

The Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing was launched in 2009 as collaboration between campus and community affiliations, focused on strengthening individuals and communities through creative partnerships and education. Its efforts include cultivating public and private resources, promoting interdisciplinary and intercommunity partnerships and making campus expertise and resources more readily available in response to regional health and wellbeing needs. NPA is just one of the institute’s university-wide initiatives.

Scene from 2013 commencement at CSUN. Photo by Lee Choo.

Nearly 10,000 students are expected to walk across a California State University, Northridge stage and receive the congratulations of their faculty and university officials, including CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison, as the university celebrates its 2014 commencement ceremonies.

An estimated 9,999 students — 7,647 bachelor’s, 2,325 master’s and 27 doctoral degree candidates — are eligible to take part in the ceremonies scheduled to begin the evening of Friday, May 16, with the university’s Honors Convocation.

“Commencement is a special time at a university,” Harrison said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to join with the students and their families and friends in celebration of what is always a momentous and joyous occasion. Throughout the year, I have enjoyed interacting with many students and learning about their outstanding work in the classroom and in the community. Honors Convocation and the commencement ceremonies give me a formal setting in which to celebrate our students’ accomplishments.”

There will be seven graduation exercises over the course of four days. CSUN’s commencement celebration begins at 6 p.m. on May 16 with the Honors Convocation on the lawn in front of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library. This year’s speaker will be alumnus Keith Weaver, executive vice president of worldwide government affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Weaver, who earned a bachelor’s in journalism in 1996 and a master’s in public administration in 2007 from CSUN, oversees all aspects of Sony’s government relations and public policy activities, as well as community affairs. He has been with the company since June 2002, when he joined as vice president of government affairs, and served as senior vice president from October 2005 until being named executive vice president in September 2011.

Last year, Weaver was elected chair of the California State Film Commission and has served as vice chair of the Board of Neighborhood Commissions for the City of Los Angeles. Additionally, he serves on the boards of the Exceptional Children’s Foundation; Genesis LA Economic Growth Corporation; Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs; Providence Health and Services Community Ministry Board; and Slavery No More.

The commencement ceremony for the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication will take place at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 19, on the Oviatt Library lawn. The College of Health and Human Development’s ceremony will be take place at 6 p.m. that day on the lawn.

The graduation ceremony for undergraduates from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences will take place at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21, on the Oviatt Library lawn. The ceremony for the master’s candidates from that college has been combined with the graduation ceremonies for the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science and Mathematics, which will take place at 6 p.m. on May 21 on the Oviatt Library lawn.

The university’s commencement exercises will culminate on Thursday, May 22, with the ceremony for the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at 8 a.m. on the Oviatt Library lawn, as well as the ceremonies for the College of Humanities and Michael D. Eisner College of Education at 6 p.m. in the same location.

An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be bestowed on William C. “Bill” Allen, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, during the ceremony for the Nazarian College.

In addition to his work with the development corporation, Allen is the 2012 board chair of Film L.A., vice chair of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and board secretary for the Valley Presbyterian Hospital. He also is a member of the board of directors of the Weingart Foundation, International Economic Development Council, California Stewardship Network, Regional Economic Association Leaders of California Coalition, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, Unite L.A. and the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Active in regional economic development for more than a decade, Allen was the first CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, from 1996-2000, and, in 2000, was named California’s Civic Entrepreneur of the Year by the California Center for Regional Leadership. While at the Economic Alliance, Allen raised more than $5 million and assembled an unprecedented public-private partnership involving all of the leading cities, colleges and business organizations in the San Fernando Valley. Under his guidance, the alliance launched programs to expand international trade, improve local education and workforce development and developed viable solutions to regional transportation challenges.

CSUN nutrition students at work talking to people at a farmers market. Photo courtesy of the College of Health and Human Development.

California State University, Northridge has received recognition from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for its efforts to recruit and retain multicultural and multilingual interns, helping them complete clinical internships and going on to become registered dietitian nutritionists.

Specifically the academy awarded CSUN’s Dietetic internship program its 2014 Diversity Action Award. The program is housed in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Family and consumer sciences professor, Annette Besnilian called the award “recognition” for all the hard work she and her colleagues have put into increasing the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds who complete the program and go on to become registered dietitians.

“Incorporating peer mentoring in all areas of dietetics, practitioners can help increase awareness of dietetics and nutrition as a health profession, increase the number of ethnically-diverse professionals in nutrition and dietetics,” she said.

Annette Besnilian

The program was able to increase the number of Hispanic students from 17% to 33%, Asian students from 8% to 25%, African American students from 8% to 17%, Middle Eastern students from 17% to 23%, and males from 1% to 25% within a span of two years.

Besnilian noted there is a shortage, locally and nationally, of versatile registered dieticians. She said, “Plans to identify students at the beginning of their Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) will assist students in obtaining experience, study skills, and networking opportunities earlier on in their academic careers.”

In addition to the recognition, the program will be awarded a  $1,000 grant at the annual meeting of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics this fall. Besnilian will attend, representing CSUN.

With its current success, the CSUN Peer Mentoring Program will continue to seek additional funding to expand the program. If able to obtain the additional funding, the program will have the ability to seek a larger pool of mentees, while expanding its outreach process through local and professional organizations.

For more information about the Dietetic Internship program visit http://www.csun.edu/health-human-development/family-consumer-sciences/dietetic-internship-program.

On one end of Monterey Hall, preschoolers play a word game and sing together as they march around colorful carpet squares. On the other end of the building, silver-haired stroke survivors socialize quietly around a table, sipping coffee and playing a trivia game as they name Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart and other famous figures in history. It’s all part of a typical morning at the busy Language, Speech and Hearing Center at California State University, Northridge.

The center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013, serves 500 to 600 clients from throughout the community each semester. Its clinics operate year-round and exist primarily — just as they did in the 1960s — to provide graduate students in speech language pathology with their first practicum and clinical experience. The CSUN students are working toward their master of science degree and credential in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences.

“The patients are contributing to the students’ education, and the students are contributing to patients’ quality of life,” said Janice Woolsey ’89, M.S. ’91 (Communication Disorders and Sciences), clinic coordinator and instructor for the center. “It goes both ways.”

The preschool-age children participate in the center’s Early Intervention Program, a government-funded service for kids up to age 3. The tots take part in a circuit of activities on the playground and in colorful classrooms, equipped with microphones, video cameras and observation mirrors. Graduate students must complete 25 hours of observation before they may interact directly with clients.

The center’s general clinic serves patients from age 3 into adulthood.

“We see whoever walks in the door,” Woolsey said. “It gives our students the opportunity to experience what a private practice would be like.”

The center does very little advertising, relying on word of mouth and referrals from schools, hospitals, pediatricians and former patients, she said.

The general clinic provides audiology services to the community, such as hearing aids, audiology testing and cochlear implant programming. The center also offers specialties such as a stuttering clinic for children and adults, and a voice clinic for professional singers and other performers coping with injuries and challenges.

Stroke survivors and patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries come to the center for its neuro clinic, which offers one-on-one and group speech therapy. Over the years, the group has included retired attorneys, a museum docent — even a retired airline pilot. The groups stay together for years, working weekly on word retrieval and long-term memory in the clinic, but also developing fast friendships and supporting one another outside the clinic, said group supervisor Sarah Cathcart M.S. ’06  (Communication Disorders and Sciences).

In recent years, the center’s staff and students have added tools such as iPads to incorporate assistive technology into their education — preparing students for 21st century careers in speech language pathology. Seventy-five percent of graduates go on to work in schools, while a quarter will work in medical settings and private practices.

The center is part of the larger Center for Community Health and Wellbeing at CSUN, a clearinghouse that serves as a one-stop shop for community members seeking resources and expertise at the university.

“My hope is that people view CSUN in a very positive light because of their experience here,” Woolsey said. “I want people to automatically think, speech [equals] CSUN.”

California State University, Northridge has been awarded a five-year, $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to address the educational gap of Hispanics and other underrepresented groups in health care-related graduate programs.

The grant will fund a new program in CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development, CAMINO, which in Spanish translates to “pathway.” The ultimate goal of the initiative is to increase the number of Hispanics and other underrepresented students completing their graduate education and going on to careers in health care.

“The health care field is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors in the United States,” said Sylvia Alva, dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “Concurrent with projected national shortages in health care is the demand for a more ethnically diverse health care and public health workforce. Research shows a strong link between a culturally diverse workforce able to provide high-quality, culturally competent patient care and improved health outcomes from the population being served.

“The need to increase and widen the pipeline to careers and occupations in health care is critically important to the San Fernando Valley, the region and the nation,” Alva continued. “I am thrilled that CSUN is going to be part of the effort to address that need.”

Sloane Burke Winkleman

CSUN public health professor Sloane Burke Winkleman, project director of CAMINO, will work with faculty throughout the College of Health and Human Development — including faculty in communication disorders, environmental and occupational health, gerontology, health administration, kinesiology, nutrition, public health and physical therapy — to develop strategies that address the specific needs of Hispanic graduate students in an effort to improve their acceptance and retention rates in health care-related majors.

“With this grant comes great opportunity,” said Burke Winkleman. “We can increase the university’s capacity to address the specific needs of Hispanic post-baccalaureate students in health-related disciplines. By showing these promising students the routes to take to reach their graduate degrees, we will see increased participation in allied health professions in the years to come.”

Part of the initiative will include peer and faculty mentoring, the establishment of a student learning community, career counseling, networking and professional development opportunities, scholarships, graduate research showcases and assistantships and a speaker series featuring leaders in regional health-care fields. Outreach to families to inform them about their students’ graduate school and career paths also will be a key component of the program.

“Many of the students who will be part of this program are first-generation college students,” said Burke Winkleman. “Even with having an undergraduate degree, it can be a challenge to navigate an entirely new environment and ensure one has the skills and resources for some of the complexities of graduate school.

“At the same time, as the first in their families to go to college, some students meet resistance from family members who don’t understand why they are going on to graduate school, and may feel pressure to fulfill more expected roles and responsibilities that don’t involve continuing education,” she added.

Burke Winkleman noted that about 40 percent of the undergraduates in the College of Health and Human Development are Latino, but that number drops to about 17 percent — even as low as 5 percent in some programs — of the graduate students in the college.

The new initiative will provide a more holistic environment for graduate students pursuing health care majors. Burke Winkleman said it will take into account the unique experiences of first-generation college students during the application process, as well as to build infrastructure and providing meaningful opportunities to increase admissions and retention while they are graduate students.

“We need to provide our students with support and a place where they feel connected,” she said. “We tell students that they need a college degree to succeed. But when their career goal requires more than a bachelor’s degree, we need to provide them with a road map and an environment where they can not only succeed, but thrive, and are prepared for competitive and rewarding careers in health care.”

Several years ago, during orientation for California State University, Northridge’s renowned physical therapy graduate program, Tyler Dorrel M.S. ’14 (Physical Therapy) set a goal that would stay with him throughout his time in the program.

He was in a classroom, listening to physical therapy professor Aimie Kachingwe talk about what lay ahead for the students. She mentioned that CSUN had recently started a partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the family of Roy Campanella, the Hall of Famer whose career was cut short by a car accident that left him paralyzed. The partnership called for one CSUN physical therapy student to be selected to serve as an intern with the Dodgers’ medical staff during spring training at the team’s facilities in Glendale, Arizona. The intern would work under the supervision of Stan Conte M.S. ’78 (Physical Therapy), the Dodgers’ director of medical services and a graduate of CSUN’s physical therapy program, as well as alongside the rest of the team’s training staff.

Dorrel, a kinesiology graduate of Sacramento State, saw his future in the Dodgers’ internship, and immediately researched what the prerequisites were for selection. He sought out other internships in preparation for the internship with the Dodgers. In the summer of 2013, when it came time to apply, he was ready. Eventually he interviewed with Conte, and around the time the Dodgers qualified for that year’s playoffs, Dorrel was selected for the program.

“There are very few opportunities in baseball for physical therapists, and those opportunities are even fewer for physical therapy students,” Dorrel said. “For CSUN to have a program set up to work specifically with the Dodgers, to have a physical therapy student work with them for two months plus of spring training, it’s a really excellent program. To my knowledge there’s not really anything else like it in the country.”

Dorrel’s appointment as a member of the Dodgers’ training staff began in early February. He would often start his days at 5:30 a.m. at a staff meeting to discuss the day’s workload and which players needed specialized treatment for injuries. With more than 60 players in Major League camp and minor leaguers reporting to camp in March, there were often plenty of players to work with, both rehabilitating injuries and needing a helping hand to get in their regular work. Any starstruck feelings from being around famous baseball players quickly faded.

“When I was helping out with physicals the first day that players reported, I remember distinctly a couple times when players walked in, I’d think, ‘That’s Clayton Kershaw. That’s Matt Kemp,’” Dorrel said. “You get over it pretty quickly when you get to talking to these guys and you see that they’re just here to work and focus on their jobs, their careers. Really, they’re all pretty down-to-earth guys. They’re not these larger-than-life superstars who are unapproachable. They’re just regular guys who are blessed to be good at baseball and are working on their craft.”

Even with the early mornings, the days would be long — often lasting 12 hours or more. And there are no off days for the training staff. Even on the rare occasions when the team would have a scheduled day off, there would still be about a half dozen or so Dodger players who were receiving treatment to rehabilitate injuries.

That daily work proved to be a great training ground for Dorrel. The demands of taking the athletes from competition to evaluation to treatment is often nearly instantaneous, and can test the skills of even the most seasoned medical professional.

“In baseball, when a guy comes off the field with an injury, you have to see him five minutes later,” Dorrel said. “It makes you think very quickly as far as evaluating what kind of injuries they have going on — what it is and what it could not be. You have to make a quick decision in what they have to do that day, or the next several days, to recover.

“It tests your knowledge and makes you think quickly on your feet and act upon it. Being able to work in that kind of setting, it tests you, but it also built my confidence that I’m able to come to decisions on the spot and put everything together quickly.”

Dorrel also learned quite a bit from Conte, one of the most respected medical practitioners in professional sports, both in treatment and research.

“Getting the chance to work with him, to see how he works his craft every day, and to see how the other trainers and physical therapists are always focused on learning more, their dedication and work ethic — it was amazing,” Dorrel said. “To see how they operate and how they work is just a great experience in itself.”

Once he finished his internship with the Dodgers, Dorrel earned his board certification. He is now a licensed physical therapist and is looking ahead to a long-term position in orthopedics. He followed the Dodgers throughout the peaks and valleys that made up the 2014 season, with so many players achieving peak performance thanks to the medical staff.

“In baseball, there are demands getting guys back to top performance,” Dorrel said. “Some of the things that you get to experience out there, the day-to-day working with these guys and seeing them get back to playing, it’s very rewarding feeling like you’re helping the team. There’s a team aspect to working in that environment that I wasn’t able to achieve in other settings.”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper presents a ceremonial pen to Mesa Verde National Park Superintendent and CSUN alumnus Cliff Spencer after the governor signed a wildfire funding bill at the park in June 2013.

Cliff Spencer had the epiphany that led him into wilderness work while riding on a city bus. A psychology student at California State University, Northridge in the early 1980s, Spencer was riding home one evening, wearing a CSUN sweatshirt.

“A woman asked me what I was studying,” said Spencer ’84 (Recreation and Leisure Studies), now superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park. “I told her, ‘psychology,’ and she asked me, ‘What discipline are you studying for?’ I didn’t have an answer for her.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, Spencer had worked at Griffith Park Boys’ Camp for years. He started out washing dishes in the kitchen and worked his way up to program director during his college years.

“All this time, I had been at the Boys’ Camp, working with campers and on the playground,” Spencer said. “Discussing it with Professor Jack Foley, I learned that there was more to recreation work than handing out balls on the playground. I learned that there was the whole community service aspect.”

Spencer switched his major to recreation and leisure studies, where Foley (now an emeritus professor) encouraged him to apply for a co-op program at the nearby Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. He worked there while earning college credit, kicking off a distinguished career with the National Park Service.

Thirty years later, Spencer presides over the nation’s largest archaeological preserve as superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park and Yucca House National Monument in southwestern Colorado, a position he’s held since 2010. He also supervises the superintendent of Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument in northwestern New Mexico.

As superintendent, Spencer said, his job is similar to that of a city manager.

“I manage all the division chiefs, as well as law enforcement, park interpreters and researchers,” he said. Mesa Verde is known for its ancient cliff dwellings, and 24 Native American tribes trace their lineage back to the park.

Previously, Spencer served as superintendent of Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. He also has worked at Lake Mead, White Sands in New Mexico, Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park and Coronado National Memorial, as well as Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

His favorite? Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, where Spencer and his wife were married. The couple welcomed their daughter in nearby Santa Rosa.

“We have fond family memories of Point Reyes,” said Spencer, 55. Professionally, his work at Point Reyes included the beach and back-country hiking. He even managed ranch grazing permits inside the park. “I enjoyed talking to the ranchers and helping work out creative solutions for them while preserving park resources,” he said.

Spencer is one of just a handful of African-Americans in the upper ranks of the park service. He attributes the lack of diversity to the fact that besides Santa Monica Mountains and Golden Gate recreation areas, most national parks are in rural areas with few minority residents.

“The challenge is overcoming the belief that [minorities] wouldn’t fit in,” Spencer said. “That’s a myth. There’s more to working at a national park than your gender or the color of your skin. What I’ve found is that people in all of the parks are very welcoming.

“The park service has its bureaucratic side, but the nice part is that people really believe in the mission: protecting the resources and making them available to visitors,” he added.

Spencer credits his student work at Santa Monica Mountains — with Foley’s encouragement — with launching his park service career. The formative college experience included search and rescue, emergency medical response and the opportunity to earn his “red card,” a wildland firefighter certification.

“One day we were sitting in a meeting, and a wildfire broke out about 20 miles away,” Spencer recalled. “There were only two of us there who were qualified and had all of our firefighting gear in the trunk of our car. Always be prepared — that was the one thing I learned right away. It was scary at times, but also exciting.”

A Van Nuys High School graduate who also earned an associate degree from Pierce College, Spencer said he chose CSUN for its affordable tuition and proximity to home.

His favorite Matador memories include studying with Foley and former CSUN professor Michael Ego, who encouraged Spencer and his classmates to meet and network with L.A. city officials and other future colleagues.

“Jack Foley taught me to go out into the community,” he said. “At that age, you kind of wonder what you’re going to be doing the rest of your life. I really found a direction with recreation in general.”

As the National Park Service approaches its 100th anniversary in 2016, Spencer and his colleagues are working to entice younger visitors to discover their national parks. He’s also helping support a new internship program, launched this past summer, which attracts college students to work for the park service and other land management agencies. It’s a way to pay it forward, offering similar opportunities afforded Spencer in the Santa Monica Mountains and classrooms of Northridge.

“CSUN provided me with a really great, formative experience — to move forward in life and in my career.”

Mesa Verde National Park Superintendent and CSUN alumnus Cliff Spencer leads a group of artists on a tour of the park’s ancient Native American cliff dwellings in early 2014.

Families and friends of California State University, Northridge’s Child and Family Studies Center are invited to celebrate the fall with some old-fashioned fun at the center’s 15^th Annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, Nov. 8.

The festival is aimed at younger children and will feature county fair-type games, craft booths and a “down home” bake sale.

“It is always a festive and memorable gathering for our families, past and present,” said Christa Dunlap, director of operations for CSUN’s Child and Family Studies Center Laboratory School. “Our play yard turns into an autumn festival with donated pumpkins, gourds and handmade decorations.”

The festival is scheduled to take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the school at 18330 Halsted Ave. in Northridge. Admission is $10 for adults. Children are free.

For more information, call the Lab School at (818) 677-3131.

The Lab School, as it is known, has a partnership with the CHIME Institute and serves preschool and kindergarten children, including children with special needs. The program is part of CSUN’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. The center and school are committed to fostering the continued growth and development of the whole child — cognitively, socially, emotionally, physically and creatively.

An active learning approach, based upon developmentally appropriate inclusive practice, encourages self-exploration and discovery through interactions with peers, adults and materials in the environment. Through the formation of partnerships with families and the provision of a safe, nurturing environment, the Child and Family Studies Center acknowledges the needs of the individual child and the values of the family.

The nature of dance is collaboration ­— between dancers and choreographers, dancers and music, dancers and the audience, and even science and art.

“Colaboratoria: Graduate Student and Faculty Dance Concert,” sponsored by California State University, Northridge’s Department of Kinesiology, will be an evening of diverse choreographic visions and passionate dancing.

The event is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. and Thursday, Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Plaza Del Sol Performance Hall, located on the east side of the campus off Zelzah Avenue in the University Student Union.

The choreographers and performers, who are CSUN students, guests and faculty, come with a strong background in dance, including working with professional dance companies or in film and television. The new dance works presented will range from jazz to contemporary and hip hop, including a remount of spring 2014’s popular “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.”

Among the highlights will be an abstract interpretation of the struggle with suicide, “Unbidden,” which is produced by kinesiology professor and clinical psychologist Paula Thomson. The dance was inspired by observing some of her patients who struggle with suicidal tendencies and the movements they make.

“I work with lots of suicidal patients,” Thomson said. “I observe them wanting to grab on and push away life at the same time. It’s a simultaneous, contradictory impulse. The dance will show the duality of that. I find there’s an incredible beauty in the human spirit even when it is struggling. There is an honesty to it.”

Another highly anticipated dance includes collaboration between the CSUN Jazz A Band and two dancers who will perform Duke Ellington’s version of “The Nutcracker.”

“We have great dancers and choreographers at CSUN, and that’s the fundamental reason for the concert — to showcase the talent at the university,” said Thomson. “Because they are graduate students and faculty members, these dancers and choreographers have a mature and sophisticated creative vision, and the dancers are exquisite.”

Tickets for the event are on sale for $15 for students and seniors, and $20 for general admission. To purchase tickets, call (818) 677-2488.

For more information about the performance, contact Paula Thomson at (818) 677-7575 or paula.thomson@csun.edu.

Kathleen Young

Kathleen Young, an associate professor of health sciences at California State University, Northridge, will be traveling to Zhejiang University in Hangzhou China as a Fulbright Scholar in spring, 2015. She will teach public health education in the Department of Social Medicine and perform research on tobacco control in the School of Medicine’s Research Center for Tobacco Control.

Young studies the benefits of smoke-free environments.

“I was awarded a sabbatical at CSUN in 2011, and part of my sabbatical was to go work at this particular university (Zhejiang) and do presentations and consults, and share California campus control policy, while also observing what was happening in Hangzhou,” Young said. “I’m looking forward to working with both students and faculty at Zhejiang University. And what’s important is to share our knowledge and background, and find the similarities and build bridges for the betterment of people in public health and health policies.”

Young is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2014-15. The program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.

“I am one of the recipients for grants in public administration and public policy, in both the United States and China,” Young said. “I am one of only a few recipients in CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development to receive a Fulbright since the 1980s. It’s really quite an honor.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appreciation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of the State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating government and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Fulbright recipients are among more than 50,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange program each year.

Students at Hart Street Elementary School in Canoga Park work on cardiovascular fitness and strength with CSUN kinesiology students. Photo courtesy of Terry Sweeting.

Ready, set, go! California State University, Northridge kinesiology students are helping put more spring, bounce, jump, skip and run in the steps of local elementary school students this winter.

CSUN students and faculty are working with the schools thanks to a partnership with Dignity Health/Northridge Hospital, which received a $290,000 grant from the UniHealth Foundation to promote fitness and combat childhood obesity at Canoga Park and Hart Street elementary schools in Canoga Park. The one-year grant was renewed for the 2014-15 school year after a successful first run during the 2013-14 year. With funding from Dignity Health, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) project will continue into next year.

“The CATCH program plays a critical role in fighting the childhood obesity epidemic in our communities,” said Sylvia Alva, dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “Our faculty and students are providing innovative programs across the region — from the 100 Citizens program in local parks to Let’s Cook and Move in schools in the East San Fernando Valley. On the CSUN campus, we’re reaching preschool children, with nutrition students researching some of the more subtle ways nutrition can affect weight.

“We place a high priority on teaching children and families to eat nutritious foods and include fitness activity in their daily lives,” Alva said. “CATCH keeps kids from falling through the cracks when schools don’t have physical education teachers on their campuses.”

Hart Street and Canoga Park, like many local elementary schools, do not have physical education teachers on staff. Through this partnership, CSUN students teach physical education lessons to a total of 1,200 students in 51 classrooms each year.

“The CSUN students teach the physical education lessons, and they give the curriculum information to the classroom teachers so they can use it during the week,” said kinesiology professor Terry Sweeting, who helps coordinate the program. “We call it ‘mutual mentorship.’ It provides the opportunity for a classroom teacher, who also provides advice [to undergraduates] about classroom management and students. We’re trying to develop support systems for the teachers, so that when we leave there next spring, the physical education curriculum and equipment are in place, and the teachers can continue to teach the lessons.

“We’re trying to get them to see, when you get children moving, it complements what they’re doing in the classroom,” Sweeting added. “This is a part of the whole child and the learning experience.”

CSUN and its partners targeted the Canoga Park area because researchers noticed that the low-income community struggled with high rates of childhood obesity, Sweeting said. Faculty and graduate students in the university’s Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics also are collaborating on the project. Under the supervision of former CSUN nutrition professor Michelle Barrack-Gardner, a few CSUN students teach nutrition education workshops after school at Hart Street and Canoga Park elementary schools, complementing the physical education curriculum that kinesiology students and teachers offer during the school day.

“[The children] taste different fruits and vegetables and learn to read food labels for nutrition information,” Sweeting said. “Children can be the ones to go home and teach their parents this information. They can have a huge influence at home.”

In the physical education lessons, CSUN kinesiology students focus on improving the kids’ cardiovascular fitness and strength — and honing fundamental movement skills such as throwing, jumping and kicking. For children in the upper grades, the undergraduates introduce activities such as soccer, basketball and rhythmic skills.

“It definitely has benefited the students, but also our teachers and the CSUN students as well,” said Curtis Johnson, principal of Hart Street Elementary. “They are providing a stronger physical fitness program that is well-established, that has a warm up, a cool down — it’s a proper fitness program.

“Through [the program], the teachers have realized that we have to teach the whole student,” Johnson said. “If they’re physically fit and leading healthy lifestyles, it’s going to help their learning as well.”

The elementary school kids look forward to the time outdoors with their CSUN student instructors as they learn new games and activities to play during recess. At the same time, the Hart Street and Canoga Park teachers are feeling more empowered to teach this subject, Johnson said.

CSUN project organizers said they hope the program leads to better health and well-being for families throughout Canoga Park.

“For some kids, that’s the only place they get to show what they’re excellent at — through movement,” Sweeting said. “The undergrads also are learning about the value of physical education at the elementary school level and the value of getting a degree in this area, where they can make an impact. We’re beginning to see ripple effects of the benefits from this project.”

A CSUN kinesiology undergraduate works on basketball skills with students at Hart Street Elementary School in Canoga Park. Photo courtesy of Terry Sweeting.