EEP QUARTERLY FALL 2005

CSULA's Early Entrance Program - Fall 2005 Family Newsletter

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EventS
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The Great Lost Auction sponsored by EEPC Lounge Manager Chris H. again roared through the EEP on June 20th and June 23rd in the Gameroom. The kiddies leave so many personal belongings out over-night in every room except the Cubby Area (the one place where things actually belong) that we can't believe they have anything left to bring. Chris, as always, takes all proceeds and buys pizza for everyone! Chris is a dude among dudes!

We had a great graduating class of EEPsters this year and an even greater surprise party for three of them. EEP grads Jesse Hsieh, Jackson Vane, and Jonathan Roberts celebrated with much food and gusto at Rex Cheng's house on Saturday, July 16th. All three of these EEP Elders have been outstanding program volunteers, role models and student leaders and we sent an EEP representative there to extend a special thanks and congrats from everyone in the EEP.

The EEPC sponsored their annual Bowling Night at the Bahama Lanes in Pasadena on August 5th, 6:00 to 9:00pm. EEPsters enjoyed the following three staples of teen life: pizza, soda and bowling! We know that pizza and bowling are at the top of the list of EEP summer activities and like always they were bowled over having fun J

August 18th saw the annual EEPC Officers Transition Luncheon, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm in the EEP kitchen. This meal/meeting is designed to honor the old Board and welcome/prep the new Officers and Chairs of your EEP Club! This year the meeting was quite feisty at first as we discussed some things that will be better this year. Such passion is often associated with dedicated leaders who want to make a huge difference in the EEPsters' lives. More on the EEPC in Announcements

From the World Council for the Gifted, a delegation of 23 top educators from the Busan Science Academy in South Korea visited the EEP on Wednesday, July 13th. The Buson academy is the only government sponsored/supported secondary school in Korea specially designed for the highly gifted. All of the teachers had advanced degrees with half having earned the doctorate in their field. We were extremely honored that they would want to visit the EEP but sure enough, they did! Dr. Chris Yoon (CSU Northridge faculty) upon the recommendation of gifted student research guru and former CSULA education professor Dr. Barbara Clark contacted the EEP and worked out the details for the daylong visit from our Korean guests. Dr. Gerry Beer (Mathematics) made a special appearance to answer questions and the entire group visited Dr. Bill Wasson's Sociology class in Salazar Hall. We think we made a good impression on this influential group of fellow gifted advocates; perhaps we will soon get a chance to visit their school.

Catalina 2005 was held Sept 8th to 11th sponsored by the PEEP and set a new record of 86 trippers on board! Wow, now that's a camp-out! We would like to thank the PEEP and special thanks to Mr. Fenton for all his help in organizing and planning the trip. We couldn'It was a most fantastic trip with a total relaxation and fun for all. Though we must write the Newsletter before the trip we anticipate no further emergencies and a really exciting and memory-making experience for all involved. We do know that the Avalon Fire and Sheriff's departments saw all the trippers for guided tours and the hospital staff enjoyed a visit from the Catalina Five. All sunburns and seasickness to be more fully reported in the next Newsletter!

Media events in Summer- The director was pictured in a photo and article on the EEP in the Sing Tao Southern California paper in the Monday, June 22nd edition

JANE magazine interviewed the director on July 12th for dating tips for smart girls; he has been a volunteer expert on gifted adolescents for this popular mag for a while.

New York Times writer Ann Hulbert visited the EEP and met with the director on Thursday July 15th for an article to be published in the New York Times Magazine on accelerated educational programs and the nation's gifted youth.

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AnnouncementS
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Our biggest announcement in quite a while may not have enough details attached yet to make it very long word-wise but here we go. After a whirlwind series of meetings the University administration has asked that we expand the program by admitting 10 additional students this year making our freshman class 40 in total. We have asked for additional space (guaranteed/promised but not possessed), an increase in Erika's hours to full-time (completed) and an increase in Lisa's time (completed) plus more TBA. Wow, pretty exciting and I am sure I will have more details in the Winter Newsletter!

Erika's new hours are 7:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday and Lisa will now also see EEPsters on Thursdays from 8:30-12:30pm, available off campus through e-mail or phone. We should be sending out a new "EEP office hours" email sometime in Fall with the whole gang's hours including EEPC e-mails for fast and easy reference.

We happily announce, after a long and very tiresome summer full of assessments and anxieties, the 2005 entering EEP freshman class of Paolo A, David B, Vince C, Angela C, Jennifer C, Roy C, Jesse C, Shauna C, Seong C, Fiona C, Anita D, Sonya D, Katherine D, Bernardo F, Ebony G, Matthew G, Maggie H, Alex K, Jillian K, Elizabeth L, James L, Jesse L, Rebecca L, Lawrence M, Aditya M, Sudipta M, Ajia M, Kenneth N, Nika N, Alfonso O, Zeeshan O, Jake P, Sunny P, Lara R, Arnulfo S, David S, Jenny S, Jennifer S, Lea U, Timmy W. We look forward to the next half decade of scholarship and development from these outstanding young people and before you know it they will be Elders. (See below!)

We warmly and proudly announce the transformation from regular EEPster teen into a more fully formed new EEP Elder. Elders have just completed their third year in the program and now they will begin to groom themselves as graduate school candidates as they finish their baccalaureate. These EEP Elder statesmen and women are some of our best and brightest on campus and may be wonderful program leaders. We look forward to their final years before they fly from the nest for bigger and brighter futures. Congratulations new Elders: Marissa A, Alezandra B, Michael C, Joanna G, Joyce H, Andrew J, Paisley K, Michael K, Tiffany K, Jackie LZ, Chris Lee, Joanne L, Pamela L, Samantha L, Chris Lemcke, Rene M, Andrew M, Ani M, Helen N, Suvag P, Laura P, Andrew P, Gabe S, Sarah S, Winny S, Charissa S, Michael T, Catherine T, Adekunbi W

The PEEP annual Fall Welcome event will be held on Sunday October 9th at the University Golden Eagle from 11:00am to 1:30pm. This traditional meeting for the old (regulars) and the new (freshmen) to the EEP was formerly called the Potluck and once the EEP High Tea! We now formerly establish the name of this particular shindig as the PEEP Fall Welcome Event. Please be on the lookout for PEEP invites in the future.

We announce this year's PEEP annual fundraiser will be the most ambitious ever hoping to raise funds to more fully support the EEPC , to fully furnish the new EEP Lounge space and to provide more scholarship assistance for others. Please get as involved in the PEEP as you can whether it is as an office volunteer, a trip chauffer, an event planner, phone call maker or, yes, even a check writer! We thank you in advance and please see the Reminder section for more contact info.

Announcing the entire EEPC Board for 2005-2006 as follows: President Andrew P.; Vice President Samantha Hsu; Secretary Pamela L. and Treasurer Josh C. The Board has also announced the following Chair Appointments: Social - Laura P., , Academic - Samantha L., Technology - Andrew M. and Public Relations - Leslie C. and last but certainly not least, Yearbook Editor - April E. Committee Team Leaders for each Chair will be Natasha S. (Social), Elizabeth C. (PR), and Spencer P. (Tech) with openings for more volunteers possible. Congratulations and good luck for another great EEP Year!

Yearbook 2004-05 was a huge hit and even came with a free surprise DVD. Now Yearbook 2005-2006 is for sale! Buy it now and save, save, save. Did we say save yet? Last year we sold out the extra copies of the Yearbook in 15 minutes (no kidding, that was the time) and had to order more at a much higher cost to all of us. This year we are encouraging all EEPsters to finalize their purchase in the fall quarter. The EEP Yearbook is bigger and better than ever and now comes with a DVD chronicling life in EEP, all for only $50.00! See Group Meetings or an EEPC Officer.

CSULA's Engineering Computer Science &Technology college is rated #32 in the nation according to U.S News and World collegiate ratings for 2005. We really do have a hidden gem in our University and our outstanding faculty. A national ranking is pretty hard for any State school our size but here we are with both a B&E and ECS&T College in the U.S News top 40! Go CSULA!

Honors Board Election Winners for 2005 are as follows: President- Catherine T.; VP Internal- Swapneel P.; VP External- Chris L.; Treasurer- Jennifer C.; Recording Secretary- Claire W. and Social Secretary- Winny S. Congratulations new Honors student leaders!

A representative from Josten's Rings will be at the EEP on two dates in September for information on and sizing for the EEP Class Ring. All EEPsters of Elder status of later may size and fit for their ring to be delivered this spring and all other EEPsters may discuss payment plans and ordering with the Jostens' rep. Mark your calendars for Wednesday Sept 28th 11:30am to 1: 30pm and Thursday Sept 29th from 2:30pm to 4:00pm in the EEP kitchen. More details at Groups Meetings

PEEP volunteer Norma Peng (Edwin) helped out in the office this summer from July 5th -21st and was just a great helping hand on a number of projects. We also have a super parent helper in Helene Chemel (Jennifer) who volunteers every Thursday morning for several hours. Do YOU want to be the next in line as a Top PEEP Office Volunteer?

This summer we had the pleasure of meeting and working with EPIC Summer Youth worker- Claudia Venancio who was preparing to begin college in fall at ELAC. We think she was really happy during her brief stay in the EEP and we know she was awfully nice and eager to learn about the school, the kids and our office. We will miss her sunny smile and hard labor but we may see her again as we have offered her another FWS (Federal Work Study) job when she eventually gets to the University. Good luck and goodbye Claudia!

We have now brought aboard to the EEP office a new FWS clerical assistant Mrs. Lupe Martinez. Lupe has two teenage children at home (boy and girl), has worked on campus before and has a sister who works for one of our VP's so she is totally ready and prepared for the EEP Experience. She has already become comfortable giving counsel, doing our mundane work and generally helping everyone; next year Lupe will be supervising the Lounge in the early evening hours. Welcome to our extended family Lupe!

James Walker ('98, '03) has taken over as owner-operator of EEP Alumni Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eepalumni/ which is linked to the PEEP EEF website too. Send this info to any alum interested in keeping in touch with their EEP brothers and sisters.

We had a long-distance visit from the Choi family who heard about the EEP and flew out from Florida on June 23rd just to see the EEP and find out if it will be a good idea for their gifted student. The EEP also heard from a family in Australia and one in New Zealand and several from the east coast this summer. We are indeed becoming a nationally and internationally recognized program!

The university's public affairs office has informed us that Cal State L.A. has won more Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) graduate fellowships than any of the other 22 CSU campuses; guess which special group of students is responsible for the majority of these prestigious awards? How did you ever guess? That's right, four out of seven of the Phi Kappa Phi Awardees since 1998 have been EEPsters and here they are for your pleasure: David Nguyen (2005), Michael Tan (2003), Tina Nguyen (2002), Leana Wen (2001). The PKP fellowship is a national award for academic excellence and scholastic promise.

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Student NewS
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Alumni Visits and Written Communiqué this Quarter:

Kevin Nielson. (Iowa PhD) visit on 7/7, Bibhu Mohanty (Duke MD) visit on 7/5, Stephen Liu (Chicago MD) and Philip Tseng visit on 6/30 and Kathy Hanks (UC Davis DVM) visit on 6/30.

Karen Kuo in West Lafayette, Indiana attending Purdue (PhD); Jeffrey Lin in Iowa (Law JD), Kevin Nielson in Iowa (Physics PhD); David Nguyen in Iowa (MD) at University of Iowa; Dimitri Kosturos at USC (MS), Founder KTS Group email Dimitri@KTSGroup.net; Charys Scotton (Law JD) at U Penn, working for a law firm in Philly, for more info on law school please contact her cscotton@law.upenn.edu

We may have blocked out the e-mail addresses in versions of this Newsletter so please have your EEPsters check out the Student Info Binder in the Lounge for EEP ALUM contacts.

Remember, many of these EEP Alumni and others have provided the EEPsters with their e-mail addresses for consultation and advisement (in the Student Information Binder) with new additions available at Group Meetings quarterly

EEPster Accomplishments as of Summer 2005