Education

CSUSM: Little-known FDR ‘Black Cabinet’

As a Cal State San Marcos professor of history, of course, Jill Watts is also a student of history. Watts knew that many U.S. history textbooks, in the all-important pages about the hugely consequential Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency, make passing references to what the black press of the day coined the “Black Cabinet,” an unofficial group of African-American advisers to FDR as he navigated the politics of the Great Depression and the New…


Paw Paw, Maw Maw, getting stoned, going to emergency rooms at record levels, UCSD research doctors say

As a growing number of older adults are experimenting with cannabis to help alleviate chronic symptoms, a new University of California San Diego School of Medicine study has identified a sharp increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits among the elderly. The study, published Jan. 9, 2023 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, identified a 1,808% relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips…


Cal State San Marcos presents its top 2022 stories

As the end of the year approaches, many are already looking ahead to 2023. But before putting the finishing touches on your list of New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a look back at some of the most-talked-about stories of 2022. CSUSM Ranks First in the Nation in Social Mobility SUSM ranks first nationally out of more than 1,400 schools measured in the ninth annual Social Mobility…


SDSU biologists reverse engineer beer hops genetics

SDSU population geneticist Arun Sethuraman and evolutionary biology Ph.D. student Alex Adame are an unlikely pair to be studying how the genetics of hops have changed throughout 12,000 years of history: neither of them drink beer. “I might have a hops allergy,” said Adame, which, in addition to her being pregnant, makes systematically sniffing (for science) dozens of pungent pellets of the key beer ingredient a little nauseating. But…


CSUSM history professor makes past come alive

It’s difficult for Kasandra Balsis to count the ways that Cal State San Marcos history professor Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall has helped her in her academic journey. When Balsis entered CSUSM’s history master’s program in the fall of 2020, the virtual format made it challenging for her to find her way, but Sepinwall aided the transition by using Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate deeper discussion and…


New football, softball fields shape up at Palomar College

Palomar College broke ground Tuesday, Oct. 18 on a sports facility that will include new football and softball stadiums, in a ceremony attended by more than 100 people on the main campus. “This project is going to take our athletics here at the college to the next level,” said Dr. Star Rivera-Lacey, Superintendent/President of Palomar College. “I am excited for our students, our employees, and…


Blast from the past at Cal State San Marcos

One eyewitness said the blast “looked like an asteroid attack out of Star Wars.” The witness was referring to rocks from a regular quarry blast above Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM) raining down on campus about 3:15 p.m. Monday, July 30, 2001, damaging cars and buildings, but causing no injuries. For Robert Stakes, who had just begun his tenure as dean of extended studies, the rocks…


Dolores Huerta honored by CSUSM office

The summer before the start of their freshman year at Cal State San Marcos, while many of their peers are going on vacations or relaxing at the beach, a group of students takes an immersive six-week course that prepares them for the rigors of college. These recent high school graduates are part of the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, which aims to help students from migrant…


CSUSM social justice symposium went virtual

Daniela Carreon had been preparing for several months for the second Social Justice Symposium at Cal State San Marcos last spring when the coronavirus crisis began to disrupt nearly every aspect of daily life in the United States and beyond.   The SJS was scheduled for March 24, but it was canceled only days before as the rapid spread of COVID-19 made large events held in person unfeasible….


Ask CSUSM: DACA and the Supreme Court

Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot execute its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was instituted in 2012 to protect eligible undocumented people from deportation and grant work authorizations for two-year periods. As a result of the 5-4 decision, almost 700,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” can remain in the United States and…