Dr. Cynthia Z. Rawitch, vice president of undergraduate studies, will be taking over the vice provost position at CSUN. Harry Hellenbrand, provost and vice president of academic affairs along with a search and screening committee appointed Rawitch to the position, which she will begin in August. Rawitch said she is happy to start her new position. “I never in a million years thought I would be involved in central university administration,” Rawitch said. Hellenbrand said this new appointment came about… Read more

University Student Union officials and CSUN police will be meeting to discuss a series of incidents that occurred at Matador Nights on April 23. One of the incidents was a confrontation that brought the event to an early end. “We have issues almost every year,” CSUN police Chief Anne P. Glavin said. “This is an event that can’t seem to rise above its own problems. No matter what we do to tweak it from previous years, we continue to have… Read more

Hanging strips of a fax cartridge, a bloody map and a television displaying kinetic type can all be found in one place: CSUN’s Juried Art Student Exhibition. Showing at the main gallery of the Art Center, this annual exhibit features 88 artworks by CSUN students, selected by three judges from more than 350 submissions. According to Jim Sweeters, director of the Art Gallery, students from all concentrations and graduate levels were invited to participate. Kimberly Morris, Ashley Hagen and Jodi Bonassi… Read more

Students expressed a desire for increased technology that incorporates their smart phones and other portable information devices, commenting on the kinds of tools they’d like to see available for students in a forum organized by CSUN’s Information Technology (IT) department. IT has been developing a 5-year plan to transform CSUN into a campus reliant less on paper and more on the personal technology devices of its members. The small but participatory group of about 10 attendees expanded on the results… Read more

Teaching people the importance of sustainability can be depressing. When trees are being cut down faster than they can grow, sea creatures are being hunted to extinction and our energy sources can’t keep up with our demand, it can be mentally and emotionally exhausting to even think about the future, let alone teach courses about it.   Dr. Erica Wohldmann, a CSUN professor of psychology and sustainability, said she sometimes faces this dilemma. To relax and renew, she goes backpacking… Read more

For CSUN’s Ice Hockey goalie Ron Dierkes, 29, getting back to school and finishing proved to be a rewarding challenge that was met with a hockey puck.   Dierkes started his college career at Florida State University in 2000, majoring in creative writing. Unsure of which direction he should go, he dropped out of school in 2003. After attending various community colleges back home in Pennsylvania, he began looking into playing on a hockey team. Four years later he followed… Read more

Melissa Schwartz is a woman on a mission. The 29-year-old has been persistent in her campaigning to get the CSUN campus dining areas to switch to cage-free eggs. “Going cage free is important for the well being of the animals, human health and the environment,” said Schwartz, who is currently working towards a master’s degree in software engineering. She said the majority of egg-laying hens in the U.S. are confined to battery cages that are about the size of a… Read more

Nature is a beautiful place to escape the pressures of urban life, and many of us sometimes feel that we just want to drop everything and live in the wilderness. Christopher McCandles, subject of the book and movie Into the Wild did just that. He gave up on earthly possessions and adventured up to Alaska by hiking, hitchhiking and canoeing. Living off the grid is a very sustainable solution when you hunt for and grow your own meat. McCandles lived… Read more

By Abbey Seltzer Majority of the country was oblivious to the news of the federal government nearly shutting down last month. What was the problem? The Republican-led Congress didn’t want to fund Planned Parenthood on the grounds the agency performs abortions. What our esteemed Congress neglects to mention is that no federal funds are used for abortions. The Hyde Amendment, signed into law in 1976 following the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, prohibits it. Even with 75 women in… Read more