California sheephead are a popular local sport and food fish with an interesting biological method of managing their own populations. Every fish is born female but can change to male if the dominant male in its area dies.
Professor Christopher Lowe, a marine biologist, and Associate Professor Kelly Young, a reproductive biologist at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), teamed up with researchers from UC Santa Barbara to examine how overfishing of sheephead is affecting local populations. They will discuss their findings at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (CNSM) Fellows Colloquium and Dean’s Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, in the CSULB Pyramid Annex conference room.
Using a combination of standard fisheries techniques and new reproductive biology methods, their collaborative research is helping fisheries' managers develop more effective protection for sheephead as well as methods that can be used for other species impacted by the pressures of heavy fishing.
Lowe is an expert in the physiological and behavioral ecology of sharks, rays and other economically important game fishes. He earned his master’s in biology from CSULB and his doctorate from the University of Hawaii. In 2009, he was named CSULB’s Outstanding Professor. Young’s research interests are in seasonal reproduction and hormonal regulation of gonadal physiology. She received her doctorate from John Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2009, she was honored with CSULB’s Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award.
The program is free to members of the CNSM Fellows—the college’s premier support group—as well as CNSM students, and $25 for non-members. For reservations and to learn more about this and upcoming colloquia, visit www.beach-biology.com or contact Nicole Algarin-Chavarria, nalgarin@csulb.edu, 562/985-7446.
-- Anne Ambrose
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Cal State Long Beach Business Student Finishes Among Nation’s Top Orators at Moot Court Nationals Among Nation’s Top Orators at Moot Court Nationals
For a guy who almost quit college a couple of times and changed his major from engineering to business, Tim Appelbaum seems now on track.
Recently, the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) senior had another verification that his decision to stay in school was a good move when he finished as the fourth best orator in the country out of 128 competitors at the recent national moot court competition in Miami. Approximately 500 individuals began in regional competition across the country.
“I was shocked,” said Appelbaum. “The competition there is very heavy. When I wasn’t called after the 20th or 19th places, I didn’t think it was in the realm of possibility. There were a lot of people contributing to this and it was really a team effort.”
Orators are judged in four categories -- knowledge of subject matter, response to questioning, forensics, and respect for the courts -- with each category being worth 100 points. Appelbaum received 385.5 points out of the possible 400.
“I think he was genuinely surprised,” said Lewis Ringel, who has served as the moot court team coach for the past four years and has been involved through the program’s entire eight years of existence. “After they called his name there was this long pause.”
Appelbaum’s involvement in the moot court program came about after he took a Political Science 100 class with Ringel.
“He just mentioned something about it and for some reason I decided to give it a shot,” said Appelbaum. “I didn’t feel at home when I first joined the class because there were President’s Scholars there, people with 4.0 GPAs and people graduating in thee-and-a-half years. I felt really out of place, but I’ve been in it the past two years and we have awesome, great people. At Long Beach State, this program ranks right up there with my fraternity as my best experiences and people I will have as lifelong friends out of the program as well.
Ringel credit’s Appelbaum success to a lot of hard work as well as natural talent. In his two years, he has participated in five tournaments, winning one, reaching the semi-final rounds of two, and advancing to the elimination round in each.
“He’s at the very top of all the students we have had in our program. He's certainly in the top five,” said Ringel. “He uses questions to advance his arguments and he layers his answers so that he ends with something that invites further questions. He ends with something almost provocative. Judges pick up on that and they ask him about that so he is completely controlling the direction of the argument. He invites follow-up questions that he is prepared for. It’s not common because you just can’t teach it. I have probably told every student to do that 50 times and some of them do, but Tim consistently does it.”
Appelbaum also doesn’t use notes during his presentations, something that only the top orators tend to do, according to Ringel. He also credits his ease of speaking in public in large part because he has played and sung in a band.
“After playing in a band doing stupid stuff up on stage, you kind of stop caring what people think about you,” said Appelbaum “That really helped out in the competition.”
“Presentation is a big part of this, and we work a lot on it,” said Ringel. “Forensics deals with things like eye contact and being conversational. He doesn’t use any notes, which is not unusual for the best orators. It is unusual when you consider that nationally about 450-500 students compete and my guess is that it’s really the select ones who don’t use notes. It’s certainly more impressive to the judges.”
Appelbaum credits his high finish, in part, to his individual style of presenting his argument, which he think the judges like.
“My strength isn’t with a large vocabulary or anything like that,” said Appelbaum, “but a down-to-earth fashion that the judges are able to understand better than if they had a bunch of fancy words thrown at them. I think people appreciate that.”
As for what Appelbaum plans to do upon graduation next year.
“Before this program, I couldn’t write a sentence basically and now I am able to read critically and write,” he said. “After I did the moot court last year, I decided I wanted to go to law school. I’ll probably do corporate litigation or something in the entertainment industry.”
-- Shayne Schroeder
Recently, the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) senior had another verification that his decision to stay in school was a good move when he finished as the fourth best orator in the country out of 128 competitors at the recent national moot court competition in Miami. Approximately 500 individuals began in regional competition across the country.
“I was shocked,” said Appelbaum. “The competition there is very heavy. When I wasn’t called after the 20th or 19th places, I didn’t think it was in the realm of possibility. There were a lot of people contributing to this and it was really a team effort.”
Orators are judged in four categories -- knowledge of subject matter, response to questioning, forensics, and respect for the courts -- with each category being worth 100 points. Appelbaum received 385.5 points out of the possible 400.
“I think he was genuinely surprised,” said Lewis Ringel, who has served as the moot court team coach for the past four years and has been involved through the program’s entire eight years of existence. “After they called his name there was this long pause.”
Appelbaum’s involvement in the moot court program came about after he took a Political Science 100 class with Ringel.
“He just mentioned something about it and for some reason I decided to give it a shot,” said Appelbaum. “I didn’t feel at home when I first joined the class because there were President’s Scholars there, people with 4.0 GPAs and people graduating in thee-and-a-half years. I felt really out of place, but I’ve been in it the past two years and we have awesome, great people. At Long Beach State, this program ranks right up there with my fraternity as my best experiences and people I will have as lifelong friends out of the program as well.
Ringel credit’s Appelbaum success to a lot of hard work as well as natural talent. In his two years, he has participated in five tournaments, winning one, reaching the semi-final rounds of two, and advancing to the elimination round in each.
“He’s at the very top of all the students we have had in our program. He's certainly in the top five,” said Ringel. “He uses questions to advance his arguments and he layers his answers so that he ends with something that invites further questions. He ends with something almost provocative. Judges pick up on that and they ask him about that so he is completely controlling the direction of the argument. He invites follow-up questions that he is prepared for. It’s not common because you just can’t teach it. I have probably told every student to do that 50 times and some of them do, but Tim consistently does it.”
Appelbaum also doesn’t use notes during his presentations, something that only the top orators tend to do, according to Ringel. He also credits his ease of speaking in public in large part because he has played and sung in a band.
“After playing in a band doing stupid stuff up on stage, you kind of stop caring what people think about you,” said Appelbaum “That really helped out in the competition.”
“Presentation is a big part of this, and we work a lot on it,” said Ringel. “Forensics deals with things like eye contact and being conversational. He doesn’t use any notes, which is not unusual for the best orators. It is unusual when you consider that nationally about 450-500 students compete and my guess is that it’s really the select ones who don’t use notes. It’s certainly more impressive to the judges.”
Appelbaum credits his high finish, in part, to his individual style of presenting his argument, which he think the judges like.
“My strength isn’t with a large vocabulary or anything like that,” said Appelbaum, “but a down-to-earth fashion that the judges are able to understand better than if they had a bunch of fancy words thrown at them. I think people appreciate that.”
As for what Appelbaum plans to do upon graduation next year.
“Before this program, I couldn’t write a sentence basically and now I am able to read critically and write,” he said. “After I did the moot court last year, I decided I wanted to go to law school. I’ll probably do corporate litigation or something in the entertainment industry.”
-- Shayne Schroeder
CSULB President to Offer Glimpse of ‘New World of Higher Education’ at Inaugural CBA Notable Speakers Series
Offering a glimpse into “The New World of Higher Education,” Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) President F. King Alexander will be the inaugural speaker at the College of Business Administration’s (CBA) Notable Speakers Series on Tuesday, Feb. 16 from 7 to 9 p.m.
The CBA’s Notable Speaker Series was established to add relevance to current students’ learning experiences and to offer opportunities for professional development and intellectual engagement to alumni, staff, faculty and the community.
“A university’s stock in trade is developing ideas and knowledge, so providing a platform for the exchange of thoughts and information is a natural extension of what we offer in the classroom and is a great way to give back to the community,” said CBA Dean Michael Solt.
Alexander is a well-respected national expert in domestic and international higher education finance and public policy. He is known as a tireless advocate of public education and has played a national role in the development of federal legislation that expands access to college classrooms through the promotion of enhanced affordability and accountability.
Throughout the last decade, Alexander has been asked to address national legislative bodies on matters of public education policy on behalf of all public colleges and universities across the nation. This includes addressing the U.S. Congress’ and House of Representatives’ subcommittee on education and the workforce regarding student tuition and college affordability during a series of national hearings regarding the Reauthorization of the High Education Act.
The Notable Speakers Series will take place on select Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. in the CBA building Room 140 during the 2010 spring semester and feature renowned professionals from a variety of fields who will share their expertise on leading edge business issues.
There is no cost to attend, but reservations are required. Visitors to the campus must purchase a $4 parking permit at one of the yellow kiosks in Lot 15.
To register or learn more about the Notable Speaker Series visit http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cba/nss.
-- Paul Browning
The CBA’s Notable Speaker Series was established to add relevance to current students’ learning experiences and to offer opportunities for professional development and intellectual engagement to alumni, staff, faculty and the community.
“A university’s stock in trade is developing ideas and knowledge, so providing a platform for the exchange of thoughts and information is a natural extension of what we offer in the classroom and is a great way to give back to the community,” said CBA Dean Michael Solt.
Alexander is a well-respected national expert in domestic and international higher education finance and public policy. He is known as a tireless advocate of public education and has played a national role in the development of federal legislation that expands access to college classrooms through the promotion of enhanced affordability and accountability.
Throughout the last decade, Alexander has been asked to address national legislative bodies on matters of public education policy on behalf of all public colleges and universities across the nation. This includes addressing the U.S. Congress’ and House of Representatives’ subcommittee on education and the workforce regarding student tuition and college affordability during a series of national hearings regarding the Reauthorization of the High Education Act.
The Notable Speakers Series will take place on select Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. in the CBA building Room 140 during the 2010 spring semester and feature renowned professionals from a variety of fields who will share their expertise on leading edge business issues.
There is no cost to attend, but reservations are required. Visitors to the campus must purchase a $4 parking permit at one of the yellow kiosks in Lot 15.
To register or learn more about the Notable Speaker Series visit http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cba/nss.
-- Paul Browning
Monday, February 1, 2010
49er Women’s Softball Pitcher Named to Top 50 Watch List for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award
Long Beach State (LBSU) women’s softball pitcher Brooke Turner has been named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA).
The 2010 preseason Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 35 schools and 14 different NCAA Division I conferences. This is the second consecutive year Turner has been named to the preseason Top 50 Watch List. She was also selected as a top 25 finalist as a freshman.
The ASA will announce the top 25 finalists on April 7, and a list of 10 finalists will be named and released on May 12. That group will be narrowed down to three finalists on May 26 with the winner of the 2010 National Collegiate Player of the Year award announced prior to the start of the NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Turner is coming off a solid sophomore season in which she earned second-team All-Big West Conference honors. The right-handed pitcher finished the year with 18 wins, which included impressive victories over ranked foes UCLA (No. 3) and Fresno State (No. 12). She also compiled six shutouts, 157 strikeouts and a 2.35 earned run average.
As a freshman, Turner garnered second-team All-America recognition as well as first-team All-West Region and first-team all-conference accolades. She was also tabbed the 2008 Big West Pitcher of the Year.
Turner, who won a conference-record eight Big West Pitcher of the Week awards in 2008, finished the campaign with a 27-6 overall record and an unblemished 12-0 mark in league action. She had a Big West leading 0.80 ERA while she also established a 49er single-season record with 237 strikeouts.
Turner enters her junior season ranked among LBSU's career leaders in strikeouts (third, 394), shutouts (eighth, 23), wins (ninth, 45) and complete games (10th, 53).
Long Beach State, which was receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, is set to open the 2010 campaign Feb. 13-14 at the Sportco Kick-Off Classic in Las Vegas.
-- Todd Miles
The 2010 preseason Watch List is comprised of 50 players representing 35 schools and 14 different NCAA Division I conferences. This is the second consecutive year Turner has been named to the preseason Top 50 Watch List. She was also selected as a top 25 finalist as a freshman.
The ASA will announce the top 25 finalists on April 7, and a list of 10 finalists will be named and released on May 12. That group will be narrowed down to three finalists on May 26 with the winner of the 2010 National Collegiate Player of the Year award announced prior to the start of the NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Turner is coming off a solid sophomore season in which she earned second-team All-Big West Conference honors. The right-handed pitcher finished the year with 18 wins, which included impressive victories over ranked foes UCLA (No. 3) and Fresno State (No. 12). She also compiled six shutouts, 157 strikeouts and a 2.35 earned run average.
As a freshman, Turner garnered second-team All-America recognition as well as first-team All-West Region and first-team all-conference accolades. She was also tabbed the 2008 Big West Pitcher of the Year.
Turner, who won a conference-record eight Big West Pitcher of the Week awards in 2008, finished the campaign with a 27-6 overall record and an unblemished 12-0 mark in league action. She had a Big West leading 0.80 ERA while she also established a 49er single-season record with 237 strikeouts.
Turner enters her junior season ranked among LBSU's career leaders in strikeouts (third, 394), shutouts (eighth, 23), wins (ninth, 45) and complete games (10th, 53).
Long Beach State, which was receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, is set to open the 2010 campaign Feb. 13-14 at the Sportco Kick-Off Classic in Las Vegas.
-- Todd Miles
Cal State Long Beach Marine Biology Faculty, Graduates to Speak at International White Shark Symposium in Hawaii
Faculty and several recent master's degree graduates from California State University, Long Beach’s (CSULB) nationally recognized Shark Lab will be among presenters at the International White Shark Symposium, Feb. 7-10 at the New Otani Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii.
On Monday, Feb. 8, the California session will include "Historic fishery interaction with the white sharks in the Southern California Bight," presented by Christopher G. Lowe, CSULB professor and Shark Lab director, co-authored with adjunct faculty member Gwen D. Goodmanlowe; graduates Mary E. Blasius of Irvine; Erica T. Jarvis and Tom J. Mason of Long Beach; and John B. O’Sullivan, curator of field operations at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Blasius will speak on "Evaluation of organochlorine contaminants in young-of-year and juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) from the Southern California Bight," co-authored with Lowe and O'Sullivan. Graduate Christopher Mull, now a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, will present "Trace elements and heavy metals in the tissues of juvenile white sharks from the Southern California Bight," co-authored with Lowe and O’Sullivan.
Lowe also co-authored several presentations during the Husbandry session on Tuesday, Feb. 9, including "The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Juvenile White Shark Project: How weaving together partners from the scientific and fishing communities with research, conservation and education messaging created a wildly successful program," "Routine metabolic rate of young-of-the-year white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) transported to the Monterey Bay Aquarium," and "Captive feeding and growth of young-of-the-year white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium."
To learn more about the CSULB Shark Lab, visit www.csulb.edu/web/labs/sharklab and for more information on the symposium, visit www.whitesharkscience.com.
--Anne Ambrose
On Monday, Feb. 8, the California session will include "Historic fishery interaction with the white sharks in the Southern California Bight," presented by Christopher G. Lowe, CSULB professor and Shark Lab director, co-authored with adjunct faculty member Gwen D. Goodmanlowe; graduates Mary E. Blasius of Irvine; Erica T. Jarvis and Tom J. Mason of Long Beach; and John B. O’Sullivan, curator of field operations at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Blasius will speak on "Evaluation of organochlorine contaminants in young-of-year and juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) from the Southern California Bight," co-authored with Lowe and O'Sullivan. Graduate Christopher Mull, now a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, will present "Trace elements and heavy metals in the tissues of juvenile white sharks from the Southern California Bight," co-authored with Lowe and O’Sullivan.
Lowe also co-authored several presentations during the Husbandry session on Tuesday, Feb. 9, including "The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Juvenile White Shark Project: How weaving together partners from the scientific and fishing communities with research, conservation and education messaging created a wildly successful program," "Routine metabolic rate of young-of-the-year white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) transported to the Monterey Bay Aquarium," and "Captive feeding and growth of young-of-the-year white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium."
To learn more about the CSULB Shark Lab, visit www.csulb.edu/web/labs/sharklab and for more information on the symposium, visit www.whitesharkscience.com.
--Anne Ambrose
Cal State Long Beach Public Policy Faculty Member Receives Fulbright Scholar Grant to Lecture in Ukraine
Before she went to Russia for a wedding 10 years ago, Linda-Marie Sundstrom had no real thoughts of visiting that part of the world. Afterwards, she knew she would return some day.
Sundstrom returns to the region this month after being awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture in the masters of public administration program in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
“At that point I wasn’t really familiar with anything dealing with Ukraine, but I loved it,” said Sundstrom of her initial visit a decade ago. “As an aside, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t a country. So, people from Russia would say ‘I’m going to The Ukraine’ with the ‘the’ in front of it. But you wouldn’t say I am going to The Italy or The France. Most Americans still refer to it as The Ukraine, but that is insulting to them to use ‘the’ which we all have a tendency to do.”
In Ukraine, Sundstrom, a lecturer in the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, will teach at Kharkiv's Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration, which is attached to the Office of the President of Ukraine. Students from the Masters of Public Administration program, along with Ph.D. candidates in economics will attend her classes. Additionally, she will travel throughout the country presenting workshops for elected officials, public administrators, non-governmental organizations and the general public.
“In order to tell them why we would do a program like this, we have to understand that the structure is different and the autonomy at local levels is different, so that’s a lot of what I’ll be teaching at the university,” said Sundstrom, now in her fourth year at CSULB. “And then they added additional funding to my award so I can go talk to elected officials and government officials throughout the country and talk to them about what we would call non-profit sectors and their general public. I will be traveling around the country and doing those kinds of workshops.”
Sundstrom, an experienced grant writer, will teach a little on the basis on how the U.S. public administration is structured and the techniques used when doing program evaluation, especially for people who get grants. In addition, she says they are attempting to get an accreditation so that might be part of the reason she is being sent there.
“The (Ukraine) president has mandated these public administration programs and there is a chance they will want me to help with their accreditation,” she said. “Then, there is also the possibility that they like what they are teaching and there will be more resistance to an outsider coming in.”
Language is going to be a problem, she noted, especially where she will be, but they will provide interpreters for her as often as possible. In the meantime, “I’m trying to learn the language the best I can with Rosetta Stone,” she said.
Sundstrom earned her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly Pomona, master's from CSU San Bernardino and Ph.D. from the University of La Verne.
She is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The Fulbright program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is an international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
-- Shayne Schroeder
Sundstrom returns to the region this month after being awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture in the masters of public administration program in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
“At that point I wasn’t really familiar with anything dealing with Ukraine, but I loved it,” said Sundstrom of her initial visit a decade ago. “As an aside, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t a country. So, people from Russia would say ‘I’m going to The Ukraine’ with the ‘the’ in front of it. But you wouldn’t say I am going to The Italy or The France. Most Americans still refer to it as The Ukraine, but that is insulting to them to use ‘the’ which we all have a tendency to do.”
In Ukraine, Sundstrom, a lecturer in the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, will teach at Kharkiv's Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration, which is attached to the Office of the President of Ukraine. Students from the Masters of Public Administration program, along with Ph.D. candidates in economics will attend her classes. Additionally, she will travel throughout the country presenting workshops for elected officials, public administrators, non-governmental organizations and the general public.
“In order to tell them why we would do a program like this, we have to understand that the structure is different and the autonomy at local levels is different, so that’s a lot of what I’ll be teaching at the university,” said Sundstrom, now in her fourth year at CSULB. “And then they added additional funding to my award so I can go talk to elected officials and government officials throughout the country and talk to them about what we would call non-profit sectors and their general public. I will be traveling around the country and doing those kinds of workshops.”
Sundstrom, an experienced grant writer, will teach a little on the basis on how the U.S. public administration is structured and the techniques used when doing program evaluation, especially for people who get grants. In addition, she says they are attempting to get an accreditation so that might be part of the reason she is being sent there.
“The (Ukraine) president has mandated these public administration programs and there is a chance they will want me to help with their accreditation,” she said. “Then, there is also the possibility that they like what they are teaching and there will be more resistance to an outsider coming in.”
Language is going to be a problem, she noted, especially where she will be, but they will provide interpreters for her as often as possible. In the meantime, “I’m trying to learn the language the best I can with Rosetta Stone,” she said.
Sundstrom earned her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly Pomona, master's from CSU San Bernardino and Ph.D. from the University of La Verne.
She is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The Fulbright program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is an international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
-- Shayne Schroeder
Music Professor at CSULB Marks His 20th Year of Running in Marathons to Raise Funds for the University Wind Quintet
Celebrating two decades of sweat philanthropy, Cal State Long Beach Professor John Barcellona will run the 20th Annual Scholarship Run on Feb. 7, a personal fundraiser he created to generate funds for the University Wind Quintet that he directs.
Barcellona’s fundraiser will take place during the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach. He will be one of 2,000 athletes to run the 26.2-mile marathon, which starts at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Huntington Street.
To date, Barcellona, also a professional flutist, has raised nearly $60,000 for his students. Netting about $3,000 a year, he is able to guarantee each of the students in his quintet about $300 a semester. Still, he believes in the expression “a little goes a long way.”
“When I started this, I wanted to attract quality woodwind students to our program, and I thought we needed some scholarship money to attract them. But, there wasn’t then and still isn’t a lot of scholarship money out there for a wind quintet,” said Barcellona.
This is the second year Barcellona will run the Surf City Marathon for this scholarship fund. He began running for the wind quintet in the Long Beach Marathon in 1990, followed by the Los Angeles Marathon until last year when the race was moved by new organizers to May, which is too late in the spring semester.
The quintet is a select group of musicians comprised of a horn player, flute player, clarinetist, bassoonist and oboe player. The five are chosen based on auditions held at the beginning of each academic year and are considered the university’s best at their respective instruments.
Since the inception of his annual scholarship run, Barcellona believes there has been an improvement in the level of musicians selected for the quintet, which he said has acquired a very good reputation over the last two decades.
Besides the ample supply of talented woodwind musicians Barcellona has trained over the years, he was also impressed with the second cohort of Cole Scholar musicians who came to campus as freshman this past fall. The Cole Scholarship program is the result of a $16.4 million donation, the largest in university history, from the Bob Cole Trust to provide scholarships for student musicians to attend CSULB and its newly-named Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.
“Cole Scholarships have brought us many top-quality students. This is making the conservatory even more competitive with the top musical institutions nationally,” said Barcellona.
Barcellona, 62, began running in the Army during basic training. Now, with a regimen that is not quite as tough, he still runs three days a week and lifts weights four. Two to three weeks before the marathon he will tackle a 20-mile run to ensure he is prepared.
“I decided to start running marathons to raise money 20 years ago when I saw groups of people putting together events, such as walk-a-thons, jog-a-thons and 5Ks,” he said. “It was a natural fit for me since I’ve been running for so long. And I get a great workout in the process.”
To solicit donations, Barcellona prints and mails out fliers to mailing lists he has accumulated over the years, including those who have given in the past; Carpenter Center patrons who enjoy chamber music; and all of the woodwind players in Local 47, a musicians union. This year, donors will receive free tickets to the quintet’s annual concert on Wednesday, April 14.
Anyone interested in making a pledge to Barcellona’s 20th Annual Scholarship Run can call him at 562/985-4739. Donations may be sent to John Barcellona, Music Department, Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840.
-- Paul Browning
Barcellona’s fundraiser will take place during the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach. He will be one of 2,000 athletes to run the 26.2-mile marathon, which starts at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Huntington Street.
To date, Barcellona, also a professional flutist, has raised nearly $60,000 for his students. Netting about $3,000 a year, he is able to guarantee each of the students in his quintet about $300 a semester. Still, he believes in the expression “a little goes a long way.”
“When I started this, I wanted to attract quality woodwind students to our program, and I thought we needed some scholarship money to attract them. But, there wasn’t then and still isn’t a lot of scholarship money out there for a wind quintet,” said Barcellona.
This is the second year Barcellona will run the Surf City Marathon for this scholarship fund. He began running for the wind quintet in the Long Beach Marathon in 1990, followed by the Los Angeles Marathon until last year when the race was moved by new organizers to May, which is too late in the spring semester.
The quintet is a select group of musicians comprised of a horn player, flute player, clarinetist, bassoonist and oboe player. The five are chosen based on auditions held at the beginning of each academic year and are considered the university’s best at their respective instruments.
Since the inception of his annual scholarship run, Barcellona believes there has been an improvement in the level of musicians selected for the quintet, which he said has acquired a very good reputation over the last two decades.
Besides the ample supply of talented woodwind musicians Barcellona has trained over the years, he was also impressed with the second cohort of Cole Scholar musicians who came to campus as freshman this past fall. The Cole Scholarship program is the result of a $16.4 million donation, the largest in university history, from the Bob Cole Trust to provide scholarships for student musicians to attend CSULB and its newly-named Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.
“Cole Scholarships have brought us many top-quality students. This is making the conservatory even more competitive with the top musical institutions nationally,” said Barcellona.
Barcellona, 62, began running in the Army during basic training. Now, with a regimen that is not quite as tough, he still runs three days a week and lifts weights four. Two to three weeks before the marathon he will tackle a 20-mile run to ensure he is prepared.
“I decided to start running marathons to raise money 20 years ago when I saw groups of people putting together events, such as walk-a-thons, jog-a-thons and 5Ks,” he said. “It was a natural fit for me since I’ve been running for so long. And I get a great workout in the process.”
To solicit donations, Barcellona prints and mails out fliers to mailing lists he has accumulated over the years, including those who have given in the past; Carpenter Center patrons who enjoy chamber music; and all of the woodwind players in Local 47, a musicians union. This year, donors will receive free tickets to the quintet’s annual concert on Wednesday, April 14.
Anyone interested in making a pledge to Barcellona’s 20th Annual Scholarship Run can call him at 562/985-4739. Donations may be sent to John Barcellona, Music Department, Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840.
-- Paul Browning
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