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Vaheh Hartoonian, 20, is a English/Communications double major who is also the student assistant to the Project Blues program. His responsibilities, among other things, include managing presentations, leading class sessions, and manage all fundraising events. Ryan Hecksel / Staff Photographer

Vaheh Hartoonian was running late for his geography class a year and a half ago. There was a special presentation that day, but the English and communications double major only caught the last 30 seconds of it. However, he was still intrigued.

“When I saw Blues I thought it was about music. So I kind of got into it,” Hartoonian said. “I went and got the flyer and I found out it was something different.”

The Blues Project is a peer-education program. It is offered by CSUN University Counseling Services (UCS).

The program uses CSUN student facilitators, or “peer educators” who volunteer their time or receive up to three units of credit a semester. Peer educators conduct presentations in campus classrooms, as well as in surrounding community colleges, high schools and middle schools.

According to program director Dr. Marshall Bloom, peer educators have reached over 3,000 students in more than 100 classrooms, teaching about the warning signs of depression and suicidal behavior, and how to help those who are afflicted.

“Our model is prevention; it’s proactive prevention,” Bloom said. “We want to get the message out before the crisis.”

Bloom, who has been with UCS for over 30 years, said the program was introduced in 1990 and modeled after a program from the University of Florida. Originally called the Suicide/Depression Prevention Project, it changed its name four years ago to The Blues Project, for a more approachable and less clinical feel.

Hartoonian is the student assistant for Bloom. He focuses on training peer educators while also handling logistics for the presentations. He was a peer educator last year.

Hartoonian said training generally takes five to seven weeks, with students working in pairs or with a student-mentor who is returning to the program. Students practice their presentation with Bloom and Hartoonian, as well as present several times in front of the volunteer group.

“Our goal is that by the time they leave this room, they are the most prepared they can possibly be,” Hartoonian said.

The Blues Project has 59 peer educators with over half of those returning from previous semesters.

Students interested in becoming peer educators need to complete an application and go through a pre-screening process to ensure they are a good fit for the program.

Registration for the fall 2010 semester should be completed at least a couple weeks before the semester starts, Hartoonian said.

The Web site and volunteer application for The Blues Project can be found at http://www.csun.edu/counseling/peer/blues.htm. The phone number is (818) 677-2366.

During land-based therapeutic exercise, trainers, like Adrianna Hermosillo, 21, provide individualized exercise programs for community members. Photo Credit: Angelica Bonomo / Senior Photographer

It was Donal McGraw’s desire to help people live a happy life that triggered him to choose a career in adapted physical activity, but it’s the friends and memories he’s made at CSUN’s Center of Achievement (COA) in the past three years that has made him forever believe that life is accessible.

“By working in the COA I have achieved knowledge, experience, confidence and friendship,” said McGraw, 29, kinesiology grad student. “As hard as it is at times to balance all of the work that the staff can be bombarded with, it is overcome everyday by getting to work with the clientele we have.”

CSUN’s COA has provided internationally recognized adapted fitness programs for people with special needs for almost 40 years while training many students to become health and fitness professionals.

“The center offers one of the most comprehensive clinical exercise programs by providing both aquatic and land-based therapeutic exercise interventions,” said Taeyou Jung, land-based director of the COA. “The center is dedicated to promoting quality of life and functional independence of people with disabilities or chronic medical conditions by improving their health and wellness.”

Jung said maximizing strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, balance and functional motor skills through adapted physical activity helps achieve this.

The COA houses two main state-of-the-art program areas, said Jung. The Abbott & Linda Brown Aquatic Therapy Center, including four distinctively designed therapy pools with many aquatic exercise equipment, and the Land-based Therapeutic Exercise Center, which has more than 80 unique adapted exercise machines and a large expansion room for group activity.

The COA is housed in the College of Health and Human Development in the Kinesiology Department.

“Dr. (Sam) Britten is the founding director of the COA,” said Carol Bennett, coordinator of the COA. “The land based program has been in existence for over 40 years and the Abbott and Linda Brown Western Center for Adapted Aquatic Therapy opened in the spring of 2003.”

Mai Jara, lecturer and director of the aquatics program, said the center works closely with CSUN students who have a physical disability so they can have an active daily lifestyle.

“We also work with community members, people who have arthritis, strokes, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, you name it,” Jara said.

“I really feel like we’re taking our daily life for granted,” Jara said. “These people teach us the value of each day. People don’t realize it takes hours and hours for them to get here just for a 50-minute exercise session and I think it is important to know what we have is a blessing.”

Students with disabilities can enroll in Kin 115 for the land program  where clients participate in adapted yoga and adapted tai chi, and Kin 117 for the aquatic program, where the clients do water exercises. Students that enroll in Kin 311 for land based and Kin 313 for the aquatic program learn how to modify exercises for students with disabilities.

Students taking Kin 311 get paired up with a client and work with that client throughout the semester, Jara said. This gives the clients the opportunity to help students understand what they go through and what kind of help they need, she added.

“It’s a give-and-take relationship between students and clients,” Jara said.

McGraw is also a teaching assistant for the COA.

“I have received unbelievable hands-on experience working with multiple types of physical disabilities that could never be attained by taking a class or reading in a book,” McGraw said. “I truly feel that I have received 10 years of experience in three quick years.”

McGraw said he chose a career in Adapted Physical Activity because he wanted to work with people with a desire to return or maintain their functional abilities.

“I want to be a person that can help facilitate people’s ability to live a life that makes them happy,” McGraw said.

Ryoate Nishiyori, 25, is also a graduate kinesiology student involved in the land-based and aquatic program.

“I participate because it feels good to help people,” Nishiyori said.

Nishiyori said people with disabilities do not get the same advantages other people do.

“They go somewhere and it’s extremely inaccessible so we want to make things as close to normal as possible,” he said.

Jara said safety is the main priority when classes take place at the center. Student interns who take internships from the kinesiology department and students who have already taken 311 and/or 313 are hired as student staff or as assistants, she said.

“The COA is leaving me with a burning desire to make sure anyone can access exercise, no matter what the ‘special need’ may be,” McGraw said. “I have become a lifelong and vocal proponent of Adapted Physical Activity and the idea that life is accessible. This truly is a magical place.”

CSUN will host a benefit concert to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

“Hands for Haiti,” which is sponsored by CSUN’s Unified We Serve, the Matador Involvement Center (MIC), Associated Students (A.S.), and the University Student Union (USU), will be held Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the USU’s Northridge Center.

“We are all doing this with the purpose of raising as much money as we possibly can for the people of Haiti,” said Hamid Jahangard, the USU’s program coordinator for Major Events.

Justin Weiss, coordinator of Unified We Serve, said the event will be “infused (with) the Haitian culture.”

Cultural elements will be infused within the program, including Haitian music, slideshows that depict Haiti prior to the earthquake and present relief efforts, poetry and theater, Weiss said.

The musical performances will include 10 acts of  “CSUN talent as well as up and coming artists in our community,” that range from solo and acoustic singing, rock bands and hip-hop artists, Jahangard said.

There will be a $10 suggested donation accepted at the door.

Jahangard said it “is somewhat consistent with what more organizations are asking.” Those that donate $10 or more will receive a receipt that can be taken to Chipotle for a free burrito, he said.

He added that another fundraising strategy is a raffle that began Feb. 23. The $1 raffle ticket will give donors the chance to win a 19-inch flatscreen HDTV and other prizes such as a $50 Panda Express gift certificate, a $25 Matador Bookstore gift card and gift baskets from the bookstore.

Raffle tickets can be purchased at nine locations throughout campus including all the Freudian Sips, the Matador Bookstore and during the event.

The raffle’s winner will be announced during the event and the official phone call will be made on Monday.

“So you don’t have to be there at the event,” Jahangard said.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from early donations on the night of the event will be given through a check to the Hope for Haiti Now fund, which is also known as the George Clooney foundation, Jahangard said.

A.S President Abel Pacheco will be the host of the event and has also been actively involved in the project, Jahangard said.

Jahangard said having different people from the CSUN community collaborate in the event is part of the general idea.

“The philosophy is a human issue regardless of what race, class, gender, socioeconomic status you’re from. If you have an internal feeling of wanting to connect with the community and if you feel so inclined and never knew what to do to help, this is a way you can have your outlet,” Weiss said.

“I’m very proud of our school and their efforts in helping them. And the way they are getting together and helping them in a way more often because it really doesn’t happen so much, so I’m proud of it,” Derisha Nunez, 19, biology major said.

Weiss said anyone can attend the event, not just CSUN students.

“Bring your mom, bring your dad, bring your neighbor, bring your friends, bring everybody who wants to get involved,” Weiss said.

Laura Robledo left her birthplace, Michoacan, Mexico, when she was 3-years-old and moved with her family to the United States. As she grew up, Robledo’s mother only spoke Spanish. Her father spoke Spanish and English. As Robledo grew up she spoke English at home. This created a disconnect between Robledo and her mother. A disconnect which wouldn’t be mended until she became a student volunteer.

Students from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA), volunteer for Project Youth Green, at the Pacoima Garden to help promote youth and family development services for the community.

“It is about going back to our grassroots and educating our community,” said Robledo, 20, junior political science major and MEChA member.

David Kietzman is the executive director of Youth Speak Collective in the San Fernando Valley, a non-profit organization that offers youth development services in the community and he also started “Project Youth Green.”

“Project Youth Green was started two years ago and we now have 60 gardening plots, a butterfly garden, murals and fruit trees. We also have a volunteer day the third Saturday of the month,” Kietzman said.

Raphael Salcedo, a Pacoima resident and volunteer at the garden said he started bringing his family to the garden to get his kids out of the house and off their phones and computers.

“Gardening is wonderful it teaches you about other Latino cultures. My family has a plot here and it provides an opportunity for youth to interact with other youth,” Salcedo said. “I’m also learning a lot about organic food and it’s making me a better gardener.”

Most of Youth Speak Collectives staff is from the community and more than half attend CSUN, Kietzman said.

“A lot of Latino youth feel disconnected from their parents because there is a language barrier,” Robledo said. “I know I did. Saying something in English and then saying it in Spanish it doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing. This is really confusing as a teen. Some times ‘at-risk’ simply means confused.”

“We do focus on at-risk kids, but everyone is welcome,” Robledo said. “We don’t dent anyone because it benefits everyone (and) we want to get back in touch with the five R’s reduce, reuse, recycle, respect and renew.”

For some students like senior Armando Ruiz, 23, Journalism major with a minor in Chicano Studies the garden means a lot more than just the physical.

“It really is a diamond in the rough,” Ruiz said. “Most people in that community have no access to a space to simply reflect. They’re trying to survive and it helps to tune yourself in to the earth and remembering what life is all about.”

Jeff White, the principal administrative analyst with the Los Angeles Unified School District (L.A.U.S.D), said high schools are sectioned off into local summary reports.

“District two includes many high schools such as Arleta, East Valley, North Hollywood, San Fernando, Sylmar and Van Nuys,” White said. “The summary report shows 26 percent plan to go to a four year college, 50 percent plan to go to a two year college, 9 percent plan to work full-time and 15 percent plan to do something else.”

Ruiz said the more MEChA students volunteer at the garden the more students trust them and want to talk to them.

“I try and talk to them about school and let them know they can go to college, because nobody is telling them these things,” Ruiz said. “We really see a difference in the entire family once they start coming to the garden.”

Sophomore Alex Hernandez, 19, a Chicano studies and graphic design major, said he liked the Pacoima garden so much he proposed CSUN start its own garden to promote the same healthy living on campus as they do in the Pacoima Garden.

“I saw we had this dead space and dry spot on campus and I know gardening is a key element for physical, mental and spiritual replenishment, so that’s why I took the initiative,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said gardening has brought him closer to his own culture.

“My grandfather was a Bracero and continues to farm in Mexico,” Hernandez said. “This was a part of my culture which I had once dismissed and forgotten about and now with our garden I feel it is connecting me back.”

Jeff Wiegley, associate professor of computer science, discusses the technological advances within the classroom including "smart classrooms."

New technology programs could be implemented at CSUN to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

CSUN must look to the future and compare it to the present to meet the campus’ projected student growth, said Harry Hellenbrand, provost and vice president for academic affairs at a meeting meant to showcase new technology that will be used by CSUN administration, faculty and students.

“The state will tell us we need to grow again, but without the bonding we need for new buildings, we face a world where we will have more students and the same physical space,” Hellenbrand said.

Hellenbrand said technology could be apart of the solution.

Several pilot programs were demonstrated at the “New Directions in Academic Technology” meeting in the Oviatt Library Presentation Room.
Eric Willis, a library systems administrator, presented Video Furnace, a video-streaming technology. Willis said the program will work side-by-side with the University Video Network (UVN). Currently, video materials from UVN are requested by faculty and must be physically delivered. According to a slide from Willis’s presentation, more than 1400 DVDs and videos were delivered to classrooms last year.

“Things are moving,” Willis said. “They are going to the web. The trend is to access content online.”

Responding to questions about copyright concerns, Willis said he doesn’t think it matters whether the material is broadcasted or physically accessed in the library, so long as a copy is owned. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has faced legal challenges related to copyright issues with a similar video-streaming system, Willis said.

Jeff Wiegley, an assistant professor of computer science, presented a client-server based system, or “thin-client,” that will save CSUN computer costs while reducing its ecological footprint.
Using a thin-client system, multiple computers on campus can be updated from a server rather than in person by CSUN Information Technology (IT).
“We will save on the order of half a megawatt a day,” Wiegley said.

Wiegley said this will be accomplished without becoming a hassle to users and will be practically transparent.

So far the pilot stage is in place in eight classrooms at Sierra Hall, Wiegley said. Manzanita Hall is next in line,  he added.

Virtual Computing Labs (VCL) could change the way software is accessed by students and faculty, said Chris Olsen, senior director of infrastructure services.
Olsen said the upcoming pilot program will give students the opportunity to access otherwise expensive software packages at little cost.

“Traditionally, there have been two ways (to use software),” Olsen said. “Either visit a lab or buy the software and install it on your own. VCL is a software library you use to teach your courses via the web.”

Demonstrating the software using a system provided by North Carolina State University, Olsen was able to boot into a remote copy of Windows XP and use SPSS Statistics, a statistics analysis tool. Based on the software package the product runs students between $200 and $700 according to the Academic Superstore.

The pilot program for VCL could start this March or April, Olsen said. Responding to concerns over bandwidth issues, Olsen said the system will have a slow roll-out if the pilot is successful.
Michael Barrett, a reference librarian at the Oviatt Library, said out of all the programs presented, he is most excited about the “smart classes,” or technologically equipped rooms and CSUN Scholar Works.

CSUN ScholarWorks is a web-based, digital collection of scholarly materials. Elizabeth Altman who demonstrated the program during the meeting manages the program.
Still, these technologies aren’t without their concerns, Barrett said.

“I still think that there are going to be a couple areas that will be touchy,” Barrett said. “One is copyright. Just like the internet, there is going to be some concern about peer-review attesting to these things and their scholarship.”

Associated Students’ (A.S.) Vice President Conor Lansdale looks at the proposal for the new A.S. Recycling Center feasibility study during Tuesday’s meeting. The study laid out a plan to build a larger facility made from natural, low energy material that would replace the older recycling center.

The final report of a recycling feasibility study conducted earlier this year was presented on Tuesday’s Associated Students (A.S.) meeting.
“At this point, all we’re looking at, is what could be,” said Conor Landsdale, A.S. vice president.

Laurence Kuhn and Tracie Bills from Terra Solutions Consulting Company reported what CSUN has and would like to be able to have regarding issues of sustainability.  The current recycling center and plans for a new, green building was discussed.

“The people at CSUN have such a vision for sustainability,” Bills said. “Everyone working at the recycling center has done a phenomenal job with the space we have now, but there’s a lot of opportunity out there.”

David Crandall, the general manager of A.S., said the recycling center is a thoughtful and deliberate process, which makes people ask whether they can do more.
The existing A.S. recycling center has been running since 1991, Bills said.

“They’re basically working out of a box car,” Lansdale said.  “It’s not the best conditions to be working in.”

Recycling bins total 55 exterior locations around campus, as well as 15 housing exterior locations, Bills said. There are also 26 internal recycling bins, Bills said.  She added that the A.S. recycling center workers manually empty the bins and sort through them.

“It’s quite a feat itself the amount of hours put into this,” Bills said.
The new recycling center will be built at the existing location, which will allow for growth over the next 15 years, Kuhn said.

“We have to take our time doing this,” Bills said.  “We can’t do it all overnight.”

New suggested additions added to the building would be things such as sorting belts and baler, more materials would be accepted at the center, plus a buy back center and redemption machines if A.S. is interested in adding it, Kuhn said.

Bills added that new additions to the program would include more classroom conferences, an increase in housing recycling opportunities, a comprehensive sustainability plan, and special event recycling.  Other additions are in marketing and research, academic opportunities and signage, meaning placing material in the proper bins.

In regards to academic opportunities, graduate students interested in green projects could conduct a study on recycling on campus focusing on the life cycle of materials used, Kuhn said.  A study like that could help the recycling center to have the correct number of bins in the right locations around campus, which serves to cut back on ineffective materials, Kuhn said.

The green features of the building would be natural low energy, embodied materials, local materials, material system longevity, day lighting and light responsive systems, a net-zero footprint goal, an over-code fresh air ventilation and a self-monitoring adjustable environment, Kuhn said.

Kuhn said if the materials come from somewhere locally, within 500 miles, they will get more points from the green certification system.  Materials used that have already been previously recycled give the building more green points, he added.

The self-monitoring adjustable environment will flash different colors indicating that too much energy is being used and it will adjust accordingly, Kuhn said.

“We are very excited and inspired,” Kuhn said. “CSUN is recognizing the importance of a new facility, which is unusual.  The passion for it really came forth.”

Funds allocated for the project so far are $120,000, Lansdale said.  A.S. has spent $7,500 on this part of the planning phase, Lansdale said.  Every year, A.S. plans to put aside money in a special fund to hold it.  It will take about five years to save the amount of money required, Lansdale said.

“Whatever the thing costs, we are hoping to be able to offset the costs with external funding,” Crandall said.  “Our target is to get half from other sources.”
Businesses like the idea of green buildings, Crandall said.  As a green recycling center, he hopes they will want to help fund the project.

“The recycling center will be completely funded by A.S. fees,” Lansdale said.

The next step is to hire an architectural firm to begin designing it, Lansdale said.

This year's 'Take Back the Night' rally will take place on Thursday, Feb. 25, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., beginning at the Plaza del Sol in the USU.

CSUN will join the global movement to “Take Back the Night,” a rally that publicly confronts the pressing issues of sexual violence against women, men, and children.

Shira Brown, director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center said the event will take place Thursday, Feb. 25, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will start at the Plaza del Sol in the University Student Union and will end at the Women’s Research Center at 18356 Halsted St.

“‘Take Back the Night’ rally offers survivors of violence an opportunity to give voice to their experiences and publicly affirm their transition from victim to survivor,” Brown said.

Beginning at 6 p.m. attendees will hear poignant and inspiring stories from survivors and activists who are working to end this violence, Brown said.

“The purpose of the event is to have students come together to organize a rally at CSUN to protest the prevalence of sexual violence in our society,” Brown said.

“Take Back the Night” will begin with a welcome from Gender and Women Studies Department Chair, Dr. Sheena Malhotra and will continue with various organizations and community members including West Hollywood Councilmember Lindsay Horvath, CSUN professor Melanie Klein who will share her survivor story and Bamby Salcedo who will talk about transgender female experiences with violence, Brown said.

The event will also feature spoken word artist Yazmin Watkins, a VDAY Vagina Mologue performance, and a band by the name of “Prohibition Rose.”

The Clothesline Project, collection of bras, a candlelight vigil, an empowerment march and a survivor speak out will take place at the event as well, Brown said.

“At 7:30 p.m., we have the lighting of candles, a symbolic bringing in of the light to the deepest, unlit corners of our streets and our society, followed by a march across campus, reclaiming the streets and the night for women and for all of us,” Malhotra said.

“Of course the most moving part of the program is often the Speak Out at the end, which begins at 8 p.m.,” Malhotra said. “This is where survivors tell their stories, breaking the silence that often surrounds the violence they suffer.”

The Clothesline Project addresses the issue of violence against women. Women affected by violence express their emotions by decorating a shirt then gets hung on a clothesline to be viewed by others as a testimony to the problem of violence against women, Brown said.

“The Clothesline Project encourages survivors to air their dirty laundry,” Brown said. “The first step towards healing is acknowledging what is happening to you, calling it what it is, and deciding once and for all, the violence must stop.”

According to Brown, the over arching theme of the event has been to bring about change.

“The first ‘Take Back the Night’ event was staged in 1973 in Germany. Today, marches are held around the world the United States, Canada, Latin America, India and Europe,” Brown said.

Brown added that the goal is to change the mindset of those ashamed of their rape, those who blame the survivor, those that feel it’s not that common and those that don’t care.

“We are not at fault, and those that are, those batterers, those rapists, those murderers must be held responsible for their crimes against our mothers, our sisters, our friends and our lovers. They must be made to change,” Brown said.

The Women’s Research and Resource Center is sponsoring this event. Co-sponsors include Gender and Women’s Studies Student Association, Gender and Women’s Studies Department, the Center for Sex and Gender Research, VDAY, Gamma Rho Lambda, Project DATE, Queer Studies Student Association, MEChA, CAUSA, Lambda Theta Alpha, Zeta Beta Tau and LGBTA.

“We are so appreciative of their support,” Brown said.

“The Gender and Women’s Studies Department and the Queer Studies Program are co-sponsors of the event because we believe that (it) is crucial for us to speak out to end the violence against women and the LGBT community,” Malhotra said.

Adriana Campos, 23, liberal studies major, plans on attending the event for the first time.

“This event hits close to home because I know someone who has been abused,” Campos said. “It’s events like this that can really make a difference and change someone’s life for the better.”

Students who wish to speak out against violence perpetrated on them or people they love will be given the opportunity to participate and publicly confront the atrocities committed against women in our society, Brown said.

“All of us should be able to exist without fear of violence on the streets and in our homes,” Malhotra said. “Many of our students are key organizers and speakers at the event, which I believe only grows stronger every year.”

The Tseng College of Extended Learning has launched a Master of Science in Assistive Technology Studies and Human Services program.

The two-year program includes 10 courses and amounts to 30 units.

There are many examples of assistive technology, ranging from hearing aids to handsplints to even computer software. These devices, used to aid people with disabilities, require a locating, selecting and understanding process.

CSUN is able to afford the additional Master’s program with the state’s current economic situation, Dr. Jennifer Kalfsbeek, Senior Program Director for the Tseng College, is able to clarify.

“We don’t want people thinking that this is state funded,” Kalfsbeek said. “We have in fact created a self-supported program. This means that it is solely funded from tuition dollars. Literally every cost, from faculty cost to material cost to the cost of turning on the lights is funded by tuition money. We do not use any tax dollars nor do we get state support.”

Kalfsbeek said, “Right now the state pays about one-third to one-half of student’s at California State Universities, as well as University of California schools, tuition.

As far as promoting the program, Dr. S. Victoria Jaque, associate professor and graduate coordinator in CSUN’s Department of Kinesiology, and one of the many faculty members to establish the program, could not be happier.

“I am very excited that CSUN has recognized the need for interdisciplinary, graduate-level education in assistive technology,” Jaque said. “It is my hope that this degree will enable our graduates to enhance universal accessibility with creative, out-of the-box thinking.”  

Jaque, who has a special interest in the program, wants to see it succeed.

“My interest in assistive technology comes from my son, Cameron, who uses assistive technology in his daily life,” Jaque said. “Without it, he would be unable to access our community, nor would he have the energy to perform the tasks of daily living.”  

One of the 14 students enrolled in the new program is Louis Herrera, 47.

“The Assistive Technology & Human Services Masters of Science Degree program goes beyond the superficial scope of view and understanding of what assistive technology is and how to best apply it to make a difference in a disable person’s life,” Herrera said.

After completing the Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program at CSUN last year, Herrera said he realized his limited knowledge of other disabilities.

“Learning how to deal with the assessment of compound disabilities, convinced me that I needed to look into a program that will broaden my scope of knowledge in the area of assistive technology training and support,” Herrera said.

Hererra is already recommending the program to others.

“Those who are undecided whether they should go through this program, need to look at all that this program offers,” said Hererra. “The knowledge and skills that will be acquired after going through this program will set the individual apart from others, because of the broad areas covered which prepares the individual to be better qualified to deal with persons with special needs.”

Alumni and students where treated through a guided tour of CSUN's one-megawatt fuel cell and accompanying Rainforest Thursday, Feb 18. The tour was conducted by Bill Sullivan, the Energy Manger of Physical Plant Management. "It's kind of neat," said Sullivan. "We're combining technology with nature." Photo Credit: Angelica Bonomo / Senior Photographer

CSUN’s sub-tropical rainforest has been entered in the National Wildlife Federation’s “Chill Out Contest 2010.”

The Student Design program entered the sub-tropical rainforest into the national competition, after last year’s fuel cell entry and win, said Tom Brown, executive director and facility manager of the Physical Plant Management (PPM) at “Sustainability Initiatives: A View to the Future” event held on Feb. 25.

“We do make the extra effort to be as sustainable as possible,” Brown said.  “Not to start any competition here but our energy performance track record is exemplary. Cal State Northridge has probably the best track record of all the CSU campuses, and I would suggest the UC campuses. CSUN is a leader in many aspects.”

Based on the amount of votes, the winner will be chosen, Brown said.

The technical symposium, which was hosted by the Environmental and Occupational Health Department (EOH), explored environmental initiatives at the university, national and international level.

Dr. Antonio Machado, the symposium co-chairman and associate professor of the EOH Department, kicked off the event saying improving sustainability at CSUN is so important.

“All of us have heard about sustainability in our jobs and it’s a wonderful concept,” Machado said.  “The idea that we can do things in such a way that our children and grandchildren can do them the same way and everything will work out well.  That sounds great.  But it remains just that, a nice sounding concept.   Unless we have the people to develop the initiatives, unless we have the people to implement those initiatives, unless we have the will to move forward with this, it’s all just a nice concept.  That’s why we’re here tonight.”

The event started with a tour of CSUN’s one-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell and the sub-tropical rainforest.  The fuel cell is a plant that generates electrical power without pollution because it only uses hydrogen and oxygen to operate, Brown said. It is nearly 80 percent efficient and has reduced the environmental impacts of the campus’ electrical system by more than 13 percent, according to the EOH records.

“Sustainability initiatives like the fuel cell support and enhance sustainability rather than push us down the road to the point where we have no place to store waste and damage the eco-system,” Machado said.

The sub-tropical rainforest is completely self-sufficient and sustainable, Brown said. The rainforest uses eight cooling towers and nearly 100 percent of the wastewater from the fuel cell, the only facility in the entire world to do this, Brown said. CSUN is also the only educational campus in the world to have a fully sustainable outdoor sub-tropical rainforest, he added.

Four guest speakers discussed university initiatives for sustainability, green chemistry advancements, the role of EOH professionals and business initiatives for sustainability.

Speaker Nurit Katz, UCLA’s Sustainability Coordinator and founder of the UCLA Sustainability Resource Center, said many universities are like cities and need to reduce campus consumption.  For example, 75 percent of Los Angeles people drive to work alone, Katz said.

“Most people care but a lot of people don’t know how to get involved,” Katz said.  “So what we’re producing is research and education.  This is a really exciting field to be in and if you’re interested, you can get at it from a million different angles.”

Thomas Hatfield, the EOH Department chair, said the programs have been hit hard with the economic recession.

“The labs that we operate are absolutely the lifelines of the department and it is a dire situation and one of the worst times I’ve seen in 25 years,” Hatfield said.
Hatfield said any donation is greatly needed and appreciated.

CSUN has achieved great advancements in greening the campus but there is a lot of grassroot goals to accomplish, said Michael Sullivan, the associate professor of the EOH Department.

“The presenter talked about the percent we recycle but that’s only half the story,” Sullivan said.  “If we can reduce the amount of waste we have to recycle, it’s even better.

We can save huge amounts of energy and reduce our carbon footprint by doing simple things. If they (students) stop using water bottles here, they’ll stop using water bottles at the next place.  It really incorporates the idea of sustainability by having a sustainable behavior.”