Developers of the Mayflower Lofts, Van Ness Cottages, Iron Bird Lofts, Fulton Village and Pacific Southwest Building have engaged students to present information about each place and about urban residential life.

The starting location for this free, public event is 1060 Fulton Mall.

The project provides the students in the class taught by Craig Scharton, the city of Fresno’s head of downtown and community revitalization with a hands-on field opportunity to learn about urban living in a major part of the city.

Students are taught the significance of cities having a strong central business district to promote growth and attract more investors to help the city’s economy.

At the open house event, students will provide visitors with promotional discounts offered by downtown businesses.

The five locations are described on the class’ Facebook page, “Fresno Downtown Open House.”

For more information, contact Mario A. Jauregui Jr. at mariojbiz@gmail.com.

The festival is hosted by the Department of Communication, part of the College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State.

Children are brought to campus from as far north as Livingston in Merced County to Delano in Kern County.

The festival now draws pupils from schools as far north as Livingston and as far south as Delano.

The festival was created to help young people gain knowledge of and appreciation for literature through oral interpretation and performance. The festival also gives the children an opportunity to visit a university campus.

For more information, visit www.peachblossom.net or call 559.278.4419

She was talking about Fresno being one of four regional sites for rounds 3 and 4 of the 2012 Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship, when the tournament field goes from 16 teams (four at each regional) to the four that will play for the national title. Fresno Regional competition is scheduled at the Save Mart Center March 24 and 26. All three games will be televised by ESPN.

Swearingen joined Athletics Director Thomas Boeh on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Save Mart Center to present her proclamation and help publicize the Fresno Regional to local basketball fans.

All-session tickets, with admission to all three games (two on March 24 and one on March 26), cost $50 per adult, $25 youths under age 18 and college students with ID and $40 each in groups of 10 or more. A $99 family plan ticket admits two adults and two youths to corner sections of the arena. Individual session tickets are available as well.

For more information about tickets and the regional competition go to GoBulldogs.com -NCAA Regional Countdown Starts.

Mehas has been active in service to his alma mater, most recently as chair of Fresno State’s Centennial celebration that concluded in 2011.

The Peters Award will be presented to Mehas  on March 13 at the 33rd annual Valley Business Conference at the Fresno Convention Center’s New Exhibit Hall, 848 M St.

For more information read the full article at the Fresno Bee: Pete Mehas wins Leon S. Peters Award.

The students from Fresno, Sanger and Madera participate in the federally funded program designed to help them get to and succeed in college. Students – 100 from the Fresno State program and 40 from City College – will pick up trash, erase graffiti and sanitize the playground area for children, among their service activities.

For the advocacy component, they will telephone their legislators and to persuade them of the importance of keeping TRIO programs alive in the central San Joaquin Valley, said Susana Cruz, a Fresno State Upward Bound counselor. The students will stress the public benefit of program participants’ community service, such as the park cleanup.

Students will start their service work at 10 a.m., then make phone calls 11:30 a.m.-noon from the park at 1730 S. Fruit Ave. (between Kearney Boulevard and California Avenue).

The event is an effort to raise awareness of the TRIO program’s value amidst the challenges from possible budget cuts, while instilling a sense of civic engagement in the young students, Cruz said. She said up to 200 Upward Bound programs could face elimination because of federal budget cutting.

TRIO is comprised of eight federally funded outreach and student services programs. It began as three programs, hence TRIO. It identifies and helps low-income individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities to progress through from middle school to post baccalaureate programs.

Fresno State’s Upward Bound, which includes the English Language Learning Upward Bound Program, provides monthly college conferences, weekly tutorials, academic and career advising, a summer residential program and nonresidential programs.The four other TRIO programs at Fresno State are Educational Talent Search, Education Opportunity Center, Student Support Services and McNair.

“As students receive services and benefit from these programs, we instill in them the importance of giving back to their communities,” Cruz said. “This is something that is expected from them after they graduate from college.”

For more information, contact Cruz at 559.278.6797 or slucero@csufresno.edu.

Related link:

•  TRIO

Beginning in fall 2012, students will have the choice to rent digital versions of texts – etextbooks – at a cost savings of 60 percent or more compared with the cost of purchasing the same text as a new printed version.

Students will have access to the digital material for the length of the academic term and also have the option to print out the material.

Digital texts and other materials will be available through laptops, desktops, tablets and various other devices. They and can be accessed online or offline and include interactive capabilities such as note-taking and highlighting.

In recent semesters, the Kennel Bookstore at Fresno State has been part of the Chancellor’s Office digital marketplace pilot program, which dealt with very limited titles, said manager Ron Durham. “This is a new, systemwide program, which we are excited to see,” Durham added.

He cautioned that it is not known which of the 5,000 titles will be applicable to Fresno State classes. However, Durham said, “We definitely plan on participating and Kennel will continue to work with the Chancellor’s Office and look forward to finding out the details as this program continues to evolve.”

“This program will ease the financial burden on students by providing access to quality online materials that are priced significantly lower than traditional textbooks,” said Gerry Hanley, senior director of CSU Academic Technology Services and executive director of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching.

For more information: http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2012/Release/DigitalTextbook.shtml.

Her presentation is part of the university’s African Peoples History Month, whose theme is “Black Women in American Culture and History.”

Taylor, once lauded as “the most influential black woman in journalism today” by American Libraries, will discuss her journey and success in entrepreneurship. She began that journey when she created Nequai Cosmetics, one of the first companies to create beauty products for African-American women.

In 1970, she joined Essence, whose audience is predominantly African-American women, as beauty editor and later fashion editor. In 1981, Taylor was promoted to editor-in-chief, a post she held until retirement in 2000. She was elected vice president of Essence Communication Inc. in 1986 and became senior vice president in 1993.

Taylor was the host and executive producer of “Essence,” the country’s first nationally syndicated African-American oriented TV magazine, and of the Essence Awards show and the Essence Music Festival.

She retired from Essence in 2008.

She has written “In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor” and “Lessons in Living.” Taylor co-authored a third book with her husband, Khepra Burns, “Confirmations: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives.”

Taylor’s presentation is free and open to the public.

The same day as Taylor’s talk, Fresno State will conclude its participation in the annual California State University Super Sunday program of visits by university officials to African-American churches throughout the state. The officials tell students and their families the advantages of earning a degree through Fresno State or one of the 22 other CSU campuses.

Fresno State’s final visit this year is at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at New Beginnings Community Baptist Church, 5151 N. Fresno St., where the speaker will be Tawanda Kitchen, a counselor in the Educational Opportunity Program.

Other African Peoples History Month events:

• “Obama Revisited,” panel discussion 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Alice Peter’s Auditorium in the University Business Center.
• “What They Invented! Black History Exhibit,” 7:08-9:08 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Alpha Nu at the University Student Union Pavilion.
•  “Africana Culture Night,” 6-10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the African American Historical and Cultural Museum (1857 Fulton St., downtown Fresno).
• “Black Voter Registration,” 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in the Free Speech Area.
• “Rosa Parks Awards,” 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, at the Smittcamp Alumni House.
•  “Back of the Bus Panel Discussion,” 7:13-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29, hosted by Delta Sigma Theta Inc. Location to be determined.
• “Honoring ‘The Help’: A Tribute to Black Domestic Workers” panel discussion among former domestic workers and local historians 3:30 p.m. March 4 at the Henry Madden Library, Room 2206.

For more information about African Peoples History Month events held on campus, contact the Africana Studies Program at 559.278.2832.

(Copy by University Communications student news assistant Reganie Smith-Love)