04 Fall2.indd - CSUSB Magazine - California State University, San ...

C O L L E G E N E W SEri Yasuhara, dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arts & LettersQUICK TAKESFROM COTTON TO COURTS — At a June commencement, 2004 honorary doctorate recipient Florentino Garza recounted working in Texas cottonfields, and reflected upon rewards of his career as a trial lawyer.Florentino Garza has seenhis share of hard cases as alongtime trial lawyer, and hiswork has won him honors. Butit’s the hard knocks in early lifethat also have brought rewardsand regard to his door.A partner of the SanBernardino law firm of Garza,Garza & Pacheco, Garza hasa internationally known practicein the areas of civil rights,civil appeals, personal injuryand environmental law. He isa fellow of the InternationalAcademy of Trial Lawyersand the American Academy ofTrial Lawyers, and was namedCalifornia Trial Lawyer of theYear in 2000 by the AmericanBoard of Trial Advocates. InJune, Cal State San Bernardinorecognized that career with anhonorary Doctor of LettersTHE HONOR IN ENDURANCEdegree during the university’sannual Commencement. He’sthe university’s fourth recipientof an honorary doctorate.Among his many honors,however, also has beenan award established by theSan Bernardino County BarAssociation, an award that hadless to do with the job of triallaw and more to do with hischaracter. In 2002, the associationestablished the FlorentinoGarza Fortitude Award, honoringattorneys who “exhibitstrength of mind that enablesthem to encounter danger orbear pain or adversity withgreat courage.”On his way to becomingan attorney Garza had leapedplenty of hurdles. At 76,he said during twoCommencement speeches hedelivered at CSUSB, he couldlook back and be thankful forwhat the country had givenhim. A native of Texas, heonce worked Texas cottonfields and spoke little English.Presbyterian missionariesbrought him into their familyafter he was orphaned, and in1956 Garza graduated fromthe UCLA Law School – oneof the first Mexican Americansto do so. At Commencementhe remembered those rootsand reminded the new graduatesto remember theirs and togive back to their communitiesand their country.“I realize,” he said, “whatthis great country can offerif you are just willing to sacrificeand pay the price foran education.”On the heels of a 2003Outstanding Teacher Awardfrom the Inland Empire ForeignLanguage Association, theCalifornia Language TeachersAssociation awarded Terri Nelsonits 2004 Outstanding TeacherAward. Nelson has worked withhigh school language teachersand helped found CSUSB’sCenter for the Advancement ofSecond Language Acquisition,which awards scholarships tohigh school students. She alsodeveloped Internet exercises for“Volilà,” a French language textbookdistributed nationwide.■Risa Dickson, who served as thecommunications departmentchair for four years, has beenappointed associate dean forthe College of Arts and Letters.She succeeds Loren Filbeck, whoretired in July after 32 years atCSUSB. Dickson has been at theuniversity since 1991. A communicationstheorist who specializes inattachment, gender relations andinterpersonal and organizationalcommunication, Dickson haswritten book chapters and hasbeen published in several journalpublications as well as presentedpapers at national and internationalconferences.■“If a family comes from a poorarea of Latin America,” saysMirta Gonzalez, who was bornin Cuba, “the only idea theymight have for the girl is to get ajob and be able to buy materialthings, instead of being behindthe girl to study and be whatevershe wants to be.” Gonzalez is aprofessor of Spanish at CSUSB.When she was 20 a priest put heron a plane to Kansas City, Mo.,where she lived with a Cubanfamily in public housing, married,gave birth to her first child andearned a bachelor’s degree. Shewent on to earn a master’s andat 49 her Ph.D. Earlier this year,the national publication HispanicOutlook for Higher Educationmagazine named her one of 20“Trail-Blazing Mujeres.”Fall/Winter 20047CSUSB