Paul Mata and CSUSB alumni think about how many miles one ...

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time, I want that investment to literallypay off.” When the university grows inboth recognition and population, he saidhe sees the return on that investment.To Mata, his degree has become morevaluable. In one way, he has helped ensurethe value by giving back to the placethat gave him so much, and by leavinga set of indelible footprints that todayserve as a guide to those who also mightbe tempted to turn the car around on firstsight of the library.Kimberlee BentonBy Shea JohnsonSome people have it all. At age 8, shewon a national modeling contract.She’s been stockpiling dance trophiessince she was 10. She was studentbody president, co-captain of the cheerleadingsquad and member of the dancecompany at Arroyo Valley High School.Last January, she added Miss Black SanBernardino to her already impressive catalogof achievements. Yet, Kimberlee Benton,only 20 years old and a Cal State SanBernardino junior, would have you believethat it’s all just in a hard day’s work.“There was a fork for everything,” saysBenton about the etiquette lessons contestantsreceived in preparation for theMiss Black San Bernardino pageant. Contestantshad to attend weekly meetingsfor nearly three months prior to the eventto plan fundraisers, search for sponsorsand learn skills such as how to walk. Benton,a mass communication major who isworking toward her minor in theatre artswith an emphasis in dance, found portionsof the pageant familiar – the talentcompetition and interview in particular.“Most of my life I have been dancing,”she recalls. “I did the ballet thing when Iwas younger, but it was just, like, littlekids – not really dancing. You just lookcute.” Benton’s dancing picked up seriouslyat the age of 15 when she began tostudy dance as part of her high school’sperforming arts program – an experiencethat prompted her to join CSUSB’s UniversityDance Company. So, it was no surprise,then, that she chose dance as hertalent for the competition.As a mass communication major, Bentonentertains aspirations of becominga broadcaster. Last fall, she heard CBSnews anchorwoman Laura Diaz speak atCSUSB on diversity issues and achievingcareer aspirations. Sobering as it may be,she was inspired by Diaz’s personal storiesof triumph in an arena that has typicallybeen male dominated. It’s also a fieldwith few minorities.But after mentioning her dream duringa Miss Black San Bernardino pre-pageantinterview to KCSB channel 3, a localcable television station, Benton was approachedwith a surprise offer. “As soon asthe interview was over, one of the productionguys told me, ‘If you want to come infor an internship, it’s always open to you.’”Peggy Hazlett, assistant to San BernardinoMayor Patrick Morris and hostof KCSB-TV channel 3’s “Inland EmpireAlive!” remembers Benton well. “She wasvery articulate,” she says. “She could takemy job. She’s an engaging and wonderfulyoung lady.”Benton’s been impressing people herentire life. Around age 15, she startedreading the announcements every Sundayat her local church. Admittedly, shereads them more like an entertainmentreporter and less like a wistful observer,but it feeds right into the kind of personthat she is.When it was time for Benton to choosea university to attend, the choice was obvious.Besides having both parents workingat Cal State San Bernardino, she likesthat the university is fostering her dreamthrough academics and programs that inviteoutside professionals to speak. “I tooka debate class, Comm 180, which gave mepointers on how to speak well and howto take in information and debate it fromeither side,” she says. “All the communicationclasses I’ve had so far have somehowhelped me in my goal to become a broadcaster.”Having just finished her general educationrequirements, Benton says she isready for the next set of specific classesthat will help her achieve her goal of becominga broadcaster. She took a radiopracticum class last spring working forCoyote Radio and is excited about thenew chance to venture into more broadcasting-relatedcourses and leap into thevigor of learning.16 | summer 2008
Jamie Lee HoseBy Joe GutierrezMost look at the homeless, butdon’t see them. Instead, thehomeless are often the facelesswho have lost the chance for a normallife with food, a home, work that actuallypays the bills and – most importantly– hope.Jamie Lee Hose knows what it is like tobe one of the faceless, growing up in theshadows, where hope seemed too muchto ask for. But what Jamie Lee Hose didhave was determination.“It was a resiliency of mind and spiritthat partially brought me where I am today,helping me overcome the lost definitionsof my generation,” Hose said. She’s aprime example of that tenacity as she receivedher master’s degree in educationalcounseling in June to go along with herbachelor’s degree in liberal arts, bothfrom Cal State San Bernardino.But the two degrees and capturing a2007-2008 William Randolph Hearst/CSUTrustees Award for Outstanding Achievementare no vindication after years ofhomelessness, hungerand uncertainty. Rather,her desire is to use theseaccomplishments to helpothers find and make theirown dreams a reality.“I grew up in many ofthe statistics that marked me for failure.I lived with a single mom who enduredthe pain of drug addiction,” Hose said.“I moved from place to place, calling 16schools home. I slept on streets, coldparking lots and many shelters, but stillsomething in me wanted more.” At theage of 14, the opportunity to make moreof her life came. She was placed in thehome of her aunt and four younger cousins.The setting gave her a stable homelife and responsibilities. Jamie jumped atthe new chance. She finished high schooland started at Cal State San Bernardino in1999. As an undergrad, she was never the“star” student. “But I always tried. Schoolwas a safe place and still feels that way tome even now.”‘I grew up in manyof the statistics thatmarked me for failure.’She completed her bachelor’s in liberalarts in 2003, and then took time off fromschool working withthe Campus Crusadefor Christ club, spendingsix weeks in MexicoCity to work withuniversity students.She also belonged toMPACT, a leadershipclass based on biblical principles. And shewas one of the leaders of a conversationalhour for international students at CalState San Bernardino. She participated inAmeriCorps for a year, and volunteered atlocal elementary schools and at the RonaldMcDonald House in Loma Linda.After realizing that she wanted to pursuea graduate degree, Jamie returned toCSUSB. Headed for a teaching credential,she soon realized she didn’t want to be ateacher. She considered social work, butwas more interested in counseling andso she changed her major to educationalcounseling. She hasn’t looked back.While finishing her master’s, she has beenworking at Cajon High School counselingstudents whose backgrounds resembleher childhood. Shedoesn’t really talkmuch about her pastto the students, preferringto let them dothe talking. “But forsome of the kids, I tellthem a little bit aboutme and once they realizeI know wherethey are coming fromthey open up to me.”One student, forinstance, “was talkingabout his life andI asked him what hisworst-case scenariowas and he didn’thesitate in telling me.Then I asked him whathis best case scenariowas and he couldn’ttell me. No one hadever asked him that,and he had never thought about it.” Drawinga student out like this and telling studentsthat hope can be more than a wordis a great way to spend the day, Hose said.“My past that was once pain is now hope;a promise to them of the chance they,too, can go after.”Chris PerezBy Sam RomeroAt commencement, when ChrisPerez was introduced as the 2007outstanding undergraduate in theCollege of Social and Behavioral Sciences,the Cal State San Bernardino psychologyhonors students he’d known and toiledwith for two years stood and clapped andscreamed. It felt “a little awkward” beingin front of classmates. It was not a scenehe would have predicted when he arrivedat CSUSB in fall 2005 from Victor ValleyCollege, hooked on psychology and onthe mild, lingering doubt that people reallygot him. Even in the land of the freecsusb magazine | 17
Page 2 and 3: Make aworthwhileinvestment.Every $2
Page 4 and 5: president’s observationsA team of
Page 6 and 7: update on cal stateMuseum qualityTh
Page 8 and 9: update on cal stateJust passing dow
Page 10: college newssocial & behavioral sci
Page 13 and 14: college newsDr. Dev A. GnanaDevfoun
Page 15 and 16: palm desert campusOn trackA new pro
Page 17: Paul MataBy Joshua HobbsTowering fi
Page 21 and 22: A homein collegecontributionsBy Car
Page 23 and 24: Artful journeysFor the love of thei
Page 25 and 26: pack tracksBall toursCoyote teams t
Page 27 and 28: All-American has been employed full
Page 29 and 30: If it’s local, it mattersBy Donel
Page 31 and 32: FM-99.1 KGGI morning show radio per
Page 33 and 34: 1990sMark Erickson, B.S. accounting
Page 35 and 36: alumni notesKaty Mauger, B.A. graph

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