Tagged With "San Diego State"
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Tuition or Dinner? Nearly Half of College Students Surveyed in a New Report Are Going Hungry (nytimes.com)
In the coming weeks, thousands of college students will walk across a stage and proudly accept their diplomas. Many of them will be hungry. A survey released this week by Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice indicated that 45 percent of student respondents from over 100 institutions said they had been food insecure in the past 30 days. In New York, the nonprofit found that among City University of New York (CUNY) students, 48 percent had been food insecure in...
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What Children’s Brains Tell Us About Trauma: Invest Early
This article, written by Wendy Smith, addresses the challenges created by trauma, and why it's important to address these issues as early as possible. While the article focuses more on the role of social workers, parents, and foster care systems, this same information applies to anyone who works with children, regardless of where we have the opportunity to provide support. ~ Leisa Irwin, ACEs in Education group manager. What Children’s Brains Tell Us About Trauma: Invest Early, by Wendy...
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Youth Voice students introduce SDSU college seniors to ACEs
Youth Voice leaders (left to right) Katherine, Lizette, Jessica, Adrian, Tatiana, Sienna and Angel Seven youth leaders traveled to San Diego State University last week to explain the science of adverse childhood experiences and the impact of complex trauma, as well as their journey of resilience and transformation to thirty seniors in the university's Counseling and Psychology Department. Youth Voice has created a sanctuary for youth, ages 11 to 20, to share, learn and create messages of...
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Gender Odyssey 2020 Conference (San Diego, CA)
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LGBT+ Voices: A Cultural Experience
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Me Too LGBTQ Conference 2020 (San Diego, CA)
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Native Truth & Healing: CA Genocide Conference 2019
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Poetry and Convo with Queer Indigenous Poet TOMMY PICO
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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ACEs Connection Network Confab -- Southern California, May 10, 2016
(l to r) Sienna, one of the teens from Youth Voice from City Heights; Dana Brown, ACEs Connection Network regional facilitator and co-founder of Youth Voice; Francisco Mendoza, CEO, Mendoza Consulting; Jessica, Youth Voice; Lizette, Youth Voice; Talitha Thompson, Youth Voice co-facilitator; Joshua Aguirre, RISE Up Industries board of directors; Stephanie Linderman, Youth Voice mentor; Arturo Soriano, Youth Empowerment co-founder; (in front) Adrian, Youth Voice.
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Anxiety Overtakes Depression as No. 1 Mental Health Problem (wakeup-world.com)
Anxiety is the new depression, with more than half of all American college students reporting anxiety . Recent research shows anxiety "characterized by constant and overwhelming worry and fear” is now 800 percent more prevalent than all forms of cancer. A 2016 report by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State confirmed the trend, finding anxiety and depression are the most common concerns among college students who seek counseling. Data from the National Institute of Mental...
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Big Data Hackathon Creates Solutions for Public Health (livewellsd.org)
The second Big Data Hackathon for San Diego organized at San Diego State University provided the platform and resources needed for students and collaborators from varied disciplines to come together and develop projects that will benefit the San Diego community. On February 18, 25 and 26, collaborators from SDSU, University of California San Diego, Texas A&M University, Oregon State University and local high schools joined together to help develop solutions for local public health issues...
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Broadening Your Network and Identifying Partners for More Resilient, Healthier Communities
Who should you partner with to create lasting change through resilience in your community? The Building Community Resilience (BCR) initiative aims to address, prevent, and reduce the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (ACEs) on children’s health and wellbeing ( The “Pair of ACEs” ). An essential element of the successes of BCR’s five test sites around the country has been strategic collaborations. In your work to build resilience, identifying...
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California colleges get funding to expand services to undocumented college students [edsource.org]
As the federal government increases immigrant detention and attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, many California colleges are finding new ways to help undocumented students succeed and get assistance to their families as well. The latest effort is the California Campus Catalyst Fund , established by a group of educators, funders and advocates, and administered by the nonprofit organization Immigrants Rising, which announced last week that it has awarded...
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California colleges get funding to expand services to undocumented college students [edsource.org]
As the federal government increases immigrant detention and attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, many California colleges are finding new ways to help undocumented students succeed and get assistance to their families as well. The latest effort is the California Campus Catalyst Fund , established by a group of educators, funders and advocates, and administered by the nonprofit organization Immigrants Rising, which announced last week that it has awarded...
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CDC ACEs Research & Evaluation Fellowship application due April 24
This is a reminder that applications for the CDC Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Research & Evaluation Fellowship ( announced last month on ACEs Connection ) are due April 24. The new fellowship position reflects a growing ACEs capacity within the CDC. The announcement states “The selected candidate will assist with research related to evaluating comprehensive community-based prevention strategies for primary prevention of ACEs (i.e., potentially traumatic experiences, such as child...
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Communities Come Together to ‘Change Minds’ About Child Trauma [ChronicleofSocialChange.org]
Projected on the enormous screen at the front of the room was a blue-tinged image of a brain scan with a seemingly simple phrase next to it: Changing Minds. The striking image and accompanying messages are still being developed by national nonprofit Futures Without Violence (Futures) for a public outreach campaign about the complex issue of childhood trauma. Participants at the Changing Minds and Creating Trauma-Informed Communities convening, hosted by Futures in early February, got a...
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Conversations With College Students on a Politically Divided Campus [TheAtlantic.com]
The Civil Discourse Society meets every Tuesday evening at 7p.m. Started last year by a few undergraduates at Central Michigan University who just wanted a place on campus for open, respectful conversations about politics, the club feels more relevant than ever. And each week, a few more students trickle through the door. “We need to make it more of a point to get people to talk,” said Jackie Smith, the organization’s president. Students at the college, which is located in the center of the...
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Count your way to calm: A simple breathing technique to help you stay present (SDSU Student Health 101)
One of my favorite things about meditation is how uncomplicated the practice is. When my life gets hectic or my mind feels overrun with racing thoughts, the simplicity of meditation can be a huge relief. There’s a scientific basis for this feeling: Meditation reduces activity in parts of the brain associated with mind-wandering and unhappiness, according to a 2011 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . When I teach meditation, I try to keep my instructions concise so as...
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DA Announces Online Tool, Task Force to Address School Abuse Complaints [voiceofsandiego.org]
By Kayla Jimenez, Voice of San Diego, November 14, 2019 The San Diego County District Attorney’s office announced Thursday that it’s launching an online reporting tool for students, parents or school employees to report abuse in schools, as well as a task force to handle complaints. The move addresses some of the systemic shortcomings that have been revealed as part of a two-year Voice of San Diego investigation into harassment and abuse in San Diego County’s public schools. The new set of...
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Emergency Housing, Food, & Financial Resources for Undergraduates at California's Public Colleges and Universities [cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov]
By The California Homeless Youth Project, February 2020 The California Homeless Youth Project compiled lists of basic needs resources that California’s public colleges and universities offer to undergraduates in order to make these resources more accessible. Basic needs resources include emergency housing, programs targeting students experiencing housing insecurity, programs targeting foster youth, free groceries, free prepared meals, on-campus CalFresh application assistance, emergency...
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From Convict to College Student (theatlantic.com)
California’s public universities are starting to embrace a program that helps transition people from prison to campus. A program at San Francisco State University has quietly been helping former prisoners earn college degrees for decades. Now, it’s gaining wider attention as schools around the state begin to look for ways to help formerly incarcerated men and women gain access to higher education. In 1967, John Irwin, who had been incarcerated before becoming a sociology professor at SF...
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Video series shows how San Diego Unified is creating trauma-informed schools
"We're committed to lifting up the work around healing, belonging and inclusion," said Joey Bravo, program associate at The California Endowment (TCE). Joey and his colleagues with TCE's Center for Healthy Communities supported the creation of a series of videos that capture the groundbreaking efforts of the San Diego Unified School District's campaign to create trauma-informed schools. In this series of videos, SDUSD's transformation of their discipline policies by...
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Just breathe: Mindfulness may help freshman stress less and smile more (scienceblog.com)
Mindfulness training may be one way to help students successfully transition to college life, according to Penn State researchers. To help ease this transition, researchers offered an eight-session mindfulness training program to first-year students at Penn State, according to Kamila Dvorakova, a doctoral Compassion and Caring fellow in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and lead author of the study. In mindfulness meditation, practitioners learn how to develop an accepting,...
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LGBTQIA OUTreach hosts a Workplace Inclusivity Workshop
San Diego State University’s LGBTQIA OUTreach organization on campus hosted a Workplace Inclusivity Workshop on Friday, February 10th, 2017 in Conrad Prebys Student Union theater from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm. The audience was warmly welcomed by OUTreach ’s Co-Vice-Presidents Amber McKinney and Sam Put, before the LGBTQIA organization’s Co-Advisors, Silvia Barragan and David Engstrom were honored and appreciated for supporting the imperative event on campus. Sergeant Daniel Meyer , San Diego Police...
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New bill would require California colleges to let homeless students park overnight (mercurynews.com)
According to several recent surveys, around one in five — or about 400,000 — California community college students has experienced homelessness in the last year. Thousands more are at risk of becoming homeless. Calling that number “shocking, alarming and tragic,” Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, on Tuesday outlined a new bill — AB 302 — that would force community colleges to allow homeless students to sleep inside their vehicles in campus parking lots overnight. “Shame on us if we turn...
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Parent and Youth Leaders Educate Policymakers on ACEs in Sacramento on July 11th
Twelve parent and youth leaders, reentry and educational leaders, and community organizers represented the region of San Diego in Sacramento on July 11th. Aligning with about 80 other community members and professionals statewide, everyone met with and educated legislative staff on the impact of ACEs, community trauma, community healing and resilience building. Organized by the 4CA steering group led by Center for Youth Wellness, Children Now, and ACEs Connection Network, the ACEs science...
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Ph.D. Students Face Mental Health Challenges
Science By Elisabeth Pain Approximately one-third of Ph.D. students are at risk of having or developing a common psychiatric disorder like depression, a recent study reports. Although these results come from a small sample—3659 students at universities in Flanders, Belgium, 90% of whom were studying the sciences and social sciences—they are nonetheless an important addition to the growing literature about the prevalence of mental health issues in academia . One key message for scientific...
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Project FORECAST - Becoming a Trauma-Informed Workforce
TRAINING THE WORKFORCE BY INCREASING KNOWLEDGE AND BUILDING SKILLS Project FORECAST uses simulation-based learning experiences to develop trauma-informed critical thinking skills. Take advantage of this free opportunity to become a FORECAST facilitator and join us in developing a trauma-informed workforce. If you train students or child-serving professionals in the fields of: � Child protection � Law enforcement � Juvenile justice � Mental or behavioral health � Healthcare Join Project...
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San Diego State Revives Aztec Language Course as Mascot Debate Continues (ww2.kqed.org)
San Diego State is reviving a course on the indigenous Aztec language, Nahuatl, next semester. The announcement comes as faculty and students revive a decade-long debate on campus about the appropriation of the Aztecs as a mascot. “This is a reaction to respect, to notions of respect,” said Center for Latin American Studies Director Ramona Pérez. “It’s a reaction to doing things right.” She said the university had offered a course on the language in the early 2000s, when concerns about the...
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Save the Date: July 11, 4CA Policymaker Education Day in Sacramento
Save the Date: Tuesday, July 11 4CA Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity, Sacramento The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to Sacramento for Policymaker Education Day. Our lawmakers need to hear from you about how adverse childhood experiences and childhood trauma affect your community and what they can do to help. Join with allies from across California to engage your elected officials on this important issue. Who: 4CA Policymaker Education Day...
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SDSU Among Nation’s Most LGBT-Friendly Schools, Ranking Says (timesofsandiego.com)
San Diego State University is crowing about being chosen again among the best universities in the nation for supporting LGBT students. The Campus Pride Index recently ranked SDSU on its 2016 “Best of the Best” Top 30 list of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. It received five stars — the best ranking. “We are proud and excited about Campus Pride’s ranking of SDSU as one of our nation’s most LGBTQ-friendly universities,” said SDSU President Elliot Hirshman. “This recognition is a...
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Self-Healing Communities [RWJF.org]
A comprehensive model of building community capacity in Washington helped make dramatic reductions in rates of health issues and social problems. The Issue In the early 1990’s, Washington state set up a program to tackle issues like domestic violence, school dropouts, youth substance abuse, and others that impact families and children. These are issues that typically had been addressed separately, but the team in Washington focused on addressing them collectively. Key Findings Over 10 to 15...
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Taking ACEs to School: Trauma-Informed Approaches in Higher Education
“What happened to you?” isn’t just a question for therapists to ask their troubled clients. It’s a question that should inform the work of physicians, nurses, lawyers, educators, social workers and public health advocates from the time they are learning their professions to each real-world encounter. That’s the hope of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) , whose workforce development group released a toolkit to help faculty across a range of disciplines weave content on adverse childhood...
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Tell Us a Story: The Power of Narrative to Build a Social Movement
Rosa Ana Lozada grew up on a two-block-long street in a San Francisco neighborhood pocked with trauma: domestic violence, child abuse, the frequent wail of police sirens. “It was unsafe to walk the two blocks to the bus stop,” she recalled. “In my community, we learned that police officers were not our friends because they were only seen when bad things happened.” For Lozada, now CEO of Harmonium, Inc., and a member of the San Diego Trauma Informed Guide Team, home and family were the...
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The University Elephant in the Room: Where’s Community Engagement Headed? (nonprofitquarterly.org)
The theme was lofty: True Stories of Engagement: Higher Education for Democracy . But bringing those words to life has not been easy, as became clear when more than 500 university staff and faculty gathered at Campus Compact’s biennial conference in Indianapolis last month to discuss the state of the field of community engagement in higher education. For the uninitiated, Campus Compact is a national organization dedicated to promoting community engagement by universities. The organization...