Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Strength in Diversity
“Thanks to a Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) award from the National Science Foundation, NMHU, UCSB and UCLA materials scientists will leverage their research, technological prowess and strength in diversity to the problem of petroleum-based polymers.
“I grew up in Las Vegas, New Mexico, went to the local public schools and started my undergraduate education at NMHU,” said Read de Alaniz, who directs the NSF-supported BioPolymers, Automated Cellular Infrastructure, Flow, and Integrated Chemistry: Materials Innovation Platform (BioPACIFIC MIP(link is external)), located at UCSB and UCLA. When he learned that NMHU was awarded the NSF-PREM Southwest Pacific Collaboration in Machine Learning, Design, Synthesis and Applications of Metalorganic Hybrid Biomaterials(link is external), it was a cause for celebration.
“This is a huge win for BioPACIFIC MIP,” Read de Alaniz said. “This award will broadly impact researchers underrepresented in STEM, mainly Hispanic or Latinx. NMHU plays a vital role in educating Hispanic students pursuing a college degree and through this partnership it will enable BioPACIFIC MIP to deliver on its promise to make biomaterial discovery resources available to a broad and diverse national user base.”…”
Crehana Raises Largest Series B for Edtech in Latin America
“…Crehana, a leading education technology platform for companies and individuals focused on closing the reskilling and upskilling gap in Latin America, announced today that it has raised $70M in a Series B round led by General Atlantic. This round represents Latin America’s largest Series B funding for an education technology company and comes just months after Crehana raised a $13M Series A extension round. Crehana will leverage the funding to expand its enterprise solution, launch operations in Brazil, and invest in new products and technologies…”
University of California makes more admission offers following big spike in applications
“…Last year, for the first time ever, Latino students made up the largest ethnic group of admitted students. This year, that happened again, with Latino students making up 37% of admitted freshmen, up from 36% last year…”
Fresno-area college criticized over hiring white chancellor.
“As West Hills Community College looks to fill two president positions at its campuses, western Fresno County leaders are urging the district to appoint leaders who represent the population — a majority of whom are Mexican and Mexican American.
In a letter to West Hills board members, Huron Mayor Rey Leon expressed disappointment at the April 20 appointment of Kristin Clark as the new chancellor of the district.
UC Board of Regents votes to end affiliation with restrictive healthcare institutions
“University of California Board of Regents voted on a proposed amendment Wednesday to end the UC’s affiliations with hospitals and healthcare institutions that do not follow the University’s non-discriminatory policy by 2023.
The amendment, written by UC Board of Regents Chair John Pérez, stated the UC should only affiliate with organizations that offer non-discriminatory care and refrain from entering into new affiliations with institutions with discriminatory guidelines. The amendment also protects the freedom of UC personnel working in affiliate facilities to provide care without being prohibited by any discriminatory or religious restrictions and plans to terminate any affiliations with organizations unwilling to comply with the UC’s non-discriminatory policy by Dec. 31, 2023…”
‘It’s just too much’: Why students are abandoning community colleges in droves With first-time enrollment down 21 percent, two-year colleges face an existential question: Will students return?
“…Community colleges have traditionally been a refuge where recent high school graduates — and adults of all ages — could pick up credits and develop new skills during a poor job market. Enrollment at two-year schools swelled during the downturn a decade ago. Many expected a similar rush during the pandemic.
That didn’t happen. Fall enrollment at community colleges was down 10 percent from a year earlier, according to National Student Clearinghouse data from mid-December. That was a much steeper decline than the roughly 1 percent drop-off in undergraduates at public and private nonprofit four-year institutions, despite predictions that more students might opt for colleges closer to home before transferring to four-year schools. The decline in first-time enrollment at community colleges was a staggering 21 percent. Black, Hispanic and Native American first-year students showed even steeper drops in a November report, between 28 and 29 percent…”
UCSB Young Artists String Quartet (YASQ): Spring 2021 Recital
“…Anthony Navarro, Violin
Anthony Navarro is a first year master’s student studying violin performance with Professor Ertan Torgul. Making music is his passion and he loves the collaborative aspects of classical music one finds in chamber music, orchestral music, opera and ballet…”
‘A Sense of Belonging’ Campus partners on grant project to expand representation, achievement in STEM among graduate students of color
“…“Research has found that students of color feel isolated within STEM classrooms,” said Dolores Inés Casillas, an associate professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at UCSB and director of the Chicano Studies Institute. “The collective goal for all HSIs is to foster a sense of belonging for STEM students of color, in hopes of seeing that translate into academic achievement and degree attainment. This grant proves that it will take a village to make a substantial gain in STEM graduate degree attainment. Together with fellow HSIs as well as two-year institutions, we hope to make a substantial impact on our current rates of Latinx students and students of color within STEM.”..”
Students reflect on grieving, remembering loved ones amid pandemic restrictions
“Ortega said the loss of her grandfather was traumatic because her family believed he was not receiving proper care and attention from the hospital doctors and nurses.
Ortega said her mother, who is a nurse, consistently called for updates on her grandfather, but the hospital was often reluctant to provide her answers.
To show their support for her grandfather, Ortega said she and her family would spend every day outside of his hospital room and even stayed in the hospital parking lot overnight on one occasion. Ortega and her family were unable to enter her grandfather’s room until the day he passed away…”
Graduating students of various backgrounds react to UCLA’s plans for commencement
“…As the first in her family to attend college, the fourth-year human biology and society student faced many challenges to make it to UCLA. Coming from a low-income, single-parent household, Hinojosa did not have college counselors at her high school and could only afford to apply to colleges that offered her an admission fee waiver.
After hours of studying for the SAT, receiving application help from USC student volunteers and helping her friends who didn’t have outside help with their essays, Hinojosa got into UCLA…”
UC Berkeley shutting down rare pipeline for doctorates of color. Its supporters are fighting back
“Victor Rios spent much of his childhood in an Oakland neighborhood so violent it was labeled the “killing zone” because many people never made it out alive.He never met his dad. His mom, who washed dishes and sewed for a living, entered the U.S. from Mexico in 1987, bringing Victor, 10, and his brother Juan, 13, across the desert and up to Oakland. There, he said, adults drank openly and bullies beat him up. He joined a gang. He knew the inside of juvenile hall like his own bedroom. And he assumed he’d be “locked up or dead” by 18….”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-shutting-down-rare-pipeline-for-15828740.php
Stories of family, culture inspire alumna’s floral bookmark business
“Rosalva Isidoro’s bookmarks hold pages and tell stories of their own.
The UCLA alumna began selling artistic bookmarks through her Instagram-based business @rosalva_floralmarks after meeting her maternal grandmother for the first time two years ago. On that trip to Mexico, Isidoro said she learned how to weave flowers – a cultural tradition of intricately twisting the stems of flowers into compact bundles of blossoms. Cherishing the moment of her grandma’s teaching, she turned this skill into a floral bookmark business that she said currently aims to support her education and community…”
https://dailybruin.com/2021/02/10/stories-of-family-culture-inspire-alumnas-floral-bookmark-business
Gymnastics freshman Sara Ulias looks to swing into bars rotation
“Gymnastics freshman Sara Ulias looks to swing into bars rotation
Freshman Sara Ulias has done exhibition routines in both of UCLA gymnastics’ meets this season, adding a bars routine in the Bruins’ most recent meet against Arizona. (Lauren Man/Assistant Photo editor)
By Nico Edgar
Feb. 7, 2021 10:14 a.m.
A fresh face may be cracking the Bruins’ bars lineup.
Freshman Sara Ulias is on the verge of breaking into the bar rotation for No. 9 UCLA gymnastics (2-0) per coach Chris Waller. Working on adjusting her bar mount, Waller said the team is trying to raise the starting value of Ulias’ routine before her official debut.
A multimedal-winning bar specialist in her club years, Ulias performed exhibitions on the uneven bars and floor for the blue and gold in its 196.750-195.075 victory against then-No. 15 Arizona on Jan. 31 after making her exhibition debut with a floor routine against then-No. 15 Arizona State the week prior…”
https://dailybruin.com/2021/02/07/gymnastics-freshman-sara-ulias-looks-to-swing-into-bars-rotation
UTEP Names Andrea Cortinas as Vice President and Chief of Staff
“The University of Texas at El Paso announced today that El Paso native Andrea Cortinas will be promoted to the position of Vice President and Chief of Staff effective July 1, 2020. She will succeed Richard Adauto, who is retiring after 32 years of service to the University.
The University of Texas at El Paso announced today that El Paso native Andrea Cortinas will be promoted to the position of Vice President and Chief of Staff effective July 1, 2020. She will succeed Richard Adauto, who is retiring after 32 years of service to the University.
Cortinas has served as Chief Legal Officer at UTEP since 2016.
“Andrea is a trusted advisor and thoughtful leader on campus,” said Heather Wilson, President of UTEP. “She cares passionately about our mission and will serve the University well.”
Rewriting the Chicano Movement: New Histories of Mexican American Activism in the Civil Rights Era
“The Chicano Movement, el movimiento, is known as the largest and most expansive civil
rights and empowerment movement by Mexican Americans up to that time. It made
Chicanos into major American political actors and laid the foundation for today’s Latino …”
rights and empowerment movement by Mexican Americans up to that time. It made
Chicanos into major American political actors and laid the foundation for today’s Latino …”
By the numbers: Who’s going to chemistry and chemical engineering graduate school in the US
“…The average annual enrollment increases were higher across the board for chemical engineering, with an overall percent change of 3.6% in first-time enrollment and 3.2% in total enrollment. First-time enrollment of Hispanic students was particularly high, at an average annual increase of 17.3%, followed by first-time enrollment of Asian and Pacific Islander students at 6.0%…”
https://cen.acs.org/education/graduate-education/numbers-s-chemistry-chemical-engineering/97/i30
Student combines art with business to create, sell personalized stickers
“…In September, the fourth-year Spanish student began selling personalized stickers on her Instagram account, @amoreymagia. Inspired by the stories and experiences of others, Alcazar said she turns personal photographs into artistic stickers for her customers as she hopes to touch the hearts of others during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic…”
How the pandemic highlights racial disparities in higher education
“Typically during a recession, community college enrollment goes up as unemployed workers start looking for new skills. But that’s not happening this time around, signaling trouble for the economy and individual families going forward, particularly for lower-income students and students of color. Hari Sreenivasan reports as part of our ongoing series, “Rethinking College.”…”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-the-pandemic-highlights-racial-disparities-in-higher-education
More Hispanics are going to college and graduating, but disparity persists
“…The bad news? This progress remains uneven. Nationwide, the proportion of Hispanics who graduate within six years is still 10 percentage points lower than the proportion of whites, according to the Education Department. The proportion who graduate in four is nearly 14 percentage points lower…”
Biden Picks Connecticut Schools Chief Miguel Cardona As Education Secretary
“…Much of Cardona’s recent tenure has focused on reopening the state’s schools during the pandemic. According to The Connecticut Mirror, a local newspaper, about one-third of the state’s public school students currently are able to attend school in person full time. Like many state and district leaders across the country, Cardona has been balancing demands from teachers unions and parents amid budget constraints…”
