Carol Forrest Killed in Crash
Letter From Executive Director Jim Herrick
Back to Class
Students Receive Alumni Help

Speaker Series Comes to SDSU
Nevada Alums Welcome Coach Fisher
SDSU Alumni Connect to Campus
Aztecs Gear Up For Football Home Opener
Support Aztec Football on the Road
Alumni Football Events

Chapter News
SDSU Deep In The Heart

Carol Forrest Killed in Crash
Alumni Board Member Dies on Scientific Expedition

Carol Forrest (1949-2006)

Oregon State Police confirm that one of three people killed August 13 in a helicopter crash off the coast near Astoria is SDSU Alumni Association board member Carol Forrest ('78, '82).

Forrest, a 56-year-old Ocean Beach resident, is believed to have been the copilot of the aircraft that plunged into the ocean during heavy morning fog. Killed along with her were pilot Petor Friedrick Simpson, 46, of San Diego and Michael Todd Lilburn, a 41-year-old cameraman also from San Diego.

The three were part of a project retracing the route of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition across the American Northwest.

“This is a sad day,” said SDSU Alumni Association President Chuck Luby. “We will all miss Carol very much.” Forrest, who served on the Alumni Association's marketing and communications committee, also worked with the committee reviewing applications for student scholarships.

“Carol was an amazing volunteer and a strong board member who inspired so many people with her generosity,” remembered Alumni Association Executive Director Jim Herrick. Forrest was beginning her fifth year as a member of the Alumni Association board of directors.

“She was very humble, always working very effectively behind the scenes,” said Alumni Programs Director Cheryl Trtan. “We could always count on Carol for anything.” Forrest and her husband, Michael Harding, were instrumental in founding SDSU's Soil Erosion Research Lab. Forrest and Harding have two children, Lee, 24, and Katie, 22.

Forrest held two civil engineering degrees from SDSU. She was logistics director for the Flight of Discovery, a scientific project to uncover and document new knowledge of the path followed by 19th century explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Harding is the expedition's leader.

A full investigation is expected to provide some clues as to what caused the crash. The bad weather may have been a contributing factor. There is no word yet on how the expedition might be affected.

“Carol was so excited about this project,” recalls SDSU Alumni Association Associate Director Tammy Blackburn, who spoke with both Forrest and Harding about their mission at an Alumni Association event just a few weeks ago. Forrest gave Blackburn a pin and a patch designed as commemorative souvenirs of the Flight of Discovery. Said Blackburn, “Both of these items take on a completely new significance now.”

Letter From Executive Director Jim Herrick
An Aztec Remembered

Fellow Aztecs,

Tom Carter (1940 - 2006)

A profound sense of loss understandably accompanies the death of someone close to us. With the passing last month of Tom Carter, the emotion is underscored by what he represented to the San Diego community and to SDSU.

Even if you didn't personally know Tom, if you attended San Diego State University you were touched in some way by him. He was perhaps the proudest and most effective advocate this school has ever produced. He volunteered. He contributed his time and personal resources. Almost from the moment he graduated in 1963, Tom was the ideal of what an alumnus should be.

Driven by a social conscience, he was a civic leader whose carefully considered advice was frequently sought and thoughtfully given. Even as he championed local charities, Tom's work in the name of his alma mater was unceasing.

Here was a man who fairly defined SDSU spirit and embodied Aztec pride. He garnered every accolade the campus could bestow. Through the years, among the many university-related boards on which he served and the many offices he held was the presidency of the SDSU Alumni Association. His commitment was unparalleled and for that we are grateful.

Tom Carter's vision for our university was inspired and fantastic; formidable, yet within reach. He delivered it with a confidence born of the proper blend of situational awareness and significant personal relationships.

Testaments to those relationships can be found on Tom's Remembrance Web site (www.sdsu.edu/tomcarter). If you knew Tom, I hope you'll take a moment to share your thoughts. If you didn't, to read the memorial entries is to begin to understand how much he was admired, respected, and loved.

There is no question we are lessened by our loss of Tom Carter, but we're stronger for his having been a member of our SDSU family, for his having loved our school, and for giving so much to this university and this community.

On behalf of our alumni everywhere, thanks, Tom, for all you gave us and for the example you set of what it truly means to be an SDSU Aztec.

Jim Herrick
SDSU Alumni Association Executive Director

Back to Class
Students Return, Applications Set a Record

From left: Marla Yolas, Amber McKinney and Lloyd McKinney

Alfred Hitchcock.
Spike Lee.
Steven Spielberg.
Amber McKinney?

If there's one name you don't recognize on the list of great film directors, give it some time; she's just getting started. Amber McKinney is one of approximately 5,000 first-time freshmen and 4,000 transfer students entering SDSU this fall. The 17-year-old aspiring director from Carson intends to study film because “I like to be behind the scenes and control everything,” she admits.

As Amber and her parents took a break for lunch during an orientation session on campus last month, they discussed their impressions of SDSU and their expectations for Amber's college experience. “I really like the campus and look forward to the tour so I can see more,” said Marla Yolas, Amber's mother.

She's not alone. More and more students and their parents apparently like what they see at SDSU. For the semester beginning this month, more than 52,000 applications were received for the 9,000 available student openings – an all time record.

"...this is a world-class campus..."

“I think this is a world-class campus and university and it has a lot to offer,” observed Amber's father, Lloyd McKinney, who said he was impressed with the students and school officials he had seen or met. “Everybody I've come in contact with in the ambassador program has just been wonderful, (demonstrating) a lot of spirit, a lot of pride in the university,” he said.

Thomas Watkins and his mother, Judy, came down for orientation from San Jose. The 18-year-old graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School intends to study communications and says he chose SDSU over schools in Colorado and Texas because “I know a couple of people that went here who are going to be seniors this coming year and I've heard good things from everyone. I really haven't heard any negative things,” he explained.

Judy Watkins with her son Thomas, an SDSU entering freshman.

“I love the campus,” Judy Watkins exclaimed, adding that she, too, was impressed by the friendliness of those involved with the orientation process. “They're all in their red shirts, so that was real helpful parking the car and having people say, ‘Welcome. This is where you go.' It was really nice,” she observed.

"...developing relationships..."

Her son's class enters SDSU with a grade point average of 3.5 and an average SAT score of 1102. But despite the prospect of tough competition, Thomas Watkins says he is “just planning on meeting as many people as possible outside of classes.” He speculates he might join a fraternity to help facilitate “developing relationships – strong ones – throughout my stay here that I can hopefully carry on outside the university, too.”

Amber McKinney, who received high marks attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, says she chose San Diego State because “I just knew that it was one of the few Cal States that had the degree I was looking for and I thought this was the best one to go to.”

While she studies a field that she hopes will lead to an exciting and successful career, McKinney says she plans on living in a dorm, making new friends, and trying to “experience all of the things that college has to offer, like the plays and the shows, the games and all that stuff.”

For now, it seems, the Academy Awards can wait.

Students Receive Alumni Help
Scholarship Deadline Approaches

SDSU junior Christin Shibley

In 2005 for the first time in her life, Christin Shibley faced a daunting reality; she was on her own. Her parents were divorced. She was carrying a full load of classes, working several days a week, and trying to stay in shape for the coming track season to compete as an Aztec pole vaulter.

“It was really stressful,” the SDSU junior from Palmdale recalls. “It was my first semester off on my own. I lived by myself the semester before, but my parents paid for everything. Then, last fall, I was paying for everything.”

"I was working four different jobs..."

Senior Valerie Acosta tells a similar story. An education major, she also tried to balance work with classes, but with costs creeping up, the San Diego native was getting deeper into debt. “I was very stressed out and worried about my finances and not spending as much time as I needed to on school,” she remembers. “Instead, I was working on four different jobs in order to pay for everything.”

One of those jobs was in the development office of the College of Arts and Letters, which works closely with the SDSU Alumni Association. That's where Acosta learned of an opportunity that would change her life. “They told me they had this scholarship up and it was due within three days,” Acosta says, “and I said, 'Are you serious?'”

They were. Despite the short notice, Acosta managed to fulfill all of the requirements for the Alumni Association scholarship: finding an alumni sponsor, completing the application form and writing an essay. To her delight, she was one of the two students selected to receive last year's scholarships. Shibley was the other. Each was awarded $4,300.

SDSU senior Valerie Acosta

“I was able to use that to pay for food and gasoline to get to school,” Acosta recounts. “I had taken out a large amount of loans in order to pay for my rent and for gas and for insurance – the little things. But once I got that scholarship, the loans that I had for the past two and a half years were gone like that.”

“It was awesome,” says Shibley, a business major whose grade point average (GPA) had slipped to its lowest point ever during that first semester on her own. “It took away the need for me to work. I was able to bring my GPA back up (to 3.94 of a possible 4.0) and that's going to help me all the way down the road.”

Since 1998, the Alumni Association scholarships have helped 38 students meet the financial demands of an SDSU education. Two more will be awarded this fall. The application deadline is October 9. Financial and grade requirements are described on the Alumni Association's Web site at http://advancement.sdsu.edu/alumni/scholarships.htm.

Both Acosta and Shibley urge qualifying students to apply. “I would definitely try to go for it,” advises Shibley. “I didn't think I was going to get it at all. It takes time to write an essay, but the time it took to write an essay I made more money on that scholarship than I made working all year long.”

"...just do it."

Acosta agrees that potential applicants should not be deterred by the thought of writing an essay. “The essay was the easiest part, absolutely,” she insists. “Once you write one essay, every other scholarship that you apply for is going to be a similar essay. So just do it.”

After gaining her teaching credential, Acosta hopes to work toward a master's degree and eventually to earn a Ph.D. with an eye toward becoming a school principal. She wants alumni to know how grateful she is for her SDSU education and the scholarship that helped pay for it. “It's an opportunity,” she says. “The scholarship was a huge burden off my shoulders.”

Shibley has goals, too. After vaulting her way to fifth place at the Mountain West Conference track meet her sophomore year, this year “I want to be able to qualify for regionals,” she declares. At the very least she hopes to improve on her best mark of twelve feet, two inches.

Relieved that the Alumni Association scholarship allowed her to focus more of her time and energy on her studies and training, Shibley's message to alumni is heartfelt: “Thank you, thank you and thanks some more.”

DC Aztecs Happy Hour
Location: Tony & Joe's - Georgetown waterfront
Time: 5:30 p.m.
For information: Visit the Washington D.C. Aztecs Web page
Contact: Allen Holmes at dcaztecs@yahoo.com
.

Speaker Series Comes to SDSU
Alumni Association Members Receive Ticket Deal

You've probably seen them on television delivering campaign messages, skewering ideological opponents, or hyping their latest book. Now some of the most prominent figures associated with American politics are coming to SDSU as part of the San Diego Speaker Series.

Scheduled to appear live at Cox Arena are former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani September 26, political pundits James Carville and Ann Coulter October 24, and former presidential candidates Wesley Clark and Bob Dole December 5.

Each evening promises its own distinct brand of insight, discussion or debate. Giuliani was named Time Magazine's “Person of the Year” for his leadership during the September 11th crisis. Conservative columnist and best-selling author Ann Coulter can be counted on to mix it up with former Clinton administration advisor James Carville. Retired four-star general Wesley Clark and former Kansas senator Bob Dole will share the experiences that led them to runs for the White House.

"...shaping the political and cultural dialogue..."

“These are people shaping the political and cultural dialogue of our country,” says SDSU Alumni Association Associate Director Tammy Blackburn. “It's a great opportunity not only for folks here on campus, but for our alumni to come and hear what they have to say.”

That's why the SDSU Alumni Association has worked with series organizers to arrange a special deal for members. For the three Speaker Series events, Alumni Association members receive a 10% discount on the ticket price, preferred Cox Arena seating, and no Ticketmaster handling fees.

“This can save our members more than $40,” explains Blackburn. “It's another great benefit of belonging to the Alumni Association. We're always looking for ways to add value for membership and this Speaker Series is outstanding.”

To take advantage of this members-only offer, Alumni Association members should contact the San Diego Speaker Series at (619) 232-9000. “And be sure to tell them you are a member of the SDSU Alumni Association,” adds Blackburn.

Nevada Alums Welcome Coach Fisher
Aztec Summer Caravan Visits Las Vegas

SDSU Alums Yumi Urata and Dave Tonelli in Las Vegas.

What's the biggest difference between San Diego and Las Vegas? “We don't have as much water up here and the water that we do have doesn't move,” says transplanted San Diegan Dave Tonelli ('94). He was among a group of a dozen Aztec alumni who gathered July 21 at the Sierra Gold Tavern to welcome the Aztec Summer Caravan and SDSU men's basketball coach Steve Fisher to Las Vegas.

“He's kind of quiet spoken a little bit,” says Tonelli of Fisher, who was in the desert city on a recruiting trip, “but get him in front of a group and he's got a voice that punches right through the crowd.”

Yumi Urata ('98) describes the caravan event, cosponsored by the Alumni Association and the Aztec Athletic Foundation, as “very informative and also personal.” She says she enjoyed getting together with other SDSU alumni and meeting the coach. “He introduced himself, but I already knew who he was,” she says. “We talked. He was very nice.”

"...under the radar."

With Las Vegas home to Mountain West Conference rival UNLV, Fisher joked to a reporter for the local newspaper that he “snuck in under the radar” for his visit. But southern Nevada isn't exactly hostile territory for Aztecs.

Almost 900 Aztec alumni live in and around Las Vegas. Still, there is no local SDSU Alumni Association chapter to bring them together on a regular basis. Events like the caravan provide a welcome, if rare opportunity.

Men's basketball Coach Steve Fisher with SDSU Alum Rob Miech ('87)

“I think it sparks people's interest,” says Tonelli, who works in the UNLV public affairs office. “It gets them thinking about checking in on SDSU sports or other things that are going on around the campus and maybe reinitiates that contact with the university for people who have been out of touch for a while.”

“It was nice to see other Aztecs,” admits Urata, who has been living in Las Vegas for a little more than two years and says she misses San Diego's great Mexican food, including her favorite carne asada burrito. “I hope that we can keep doing something like (the caravan) in Las Vegas and get some more exposure to other alumni in the future.”

Although he returns to San Diego fairly frequently to visit family, Tonelli says he especially enjoyed meeting fellow Aztecs in his adopted city. “It was just good to see that some other people from San Diego were up here,” he explains, adding that he would support future caravans and similar gatherings.

“We'd love to see a few more,” Tonelli says. “We'd love to see Dr. Weber visit us.”

SDSU Alumni Connect to Campus
Aztecs Ask Professor Jean Twenge About Her Book

How does a new professor get through to today's college students and what is the fascination among young people with Paris Hilton? These are just a couple of the questions posed to SDSU associate psychology professor Jean Twenge, Ph.D., in the Alumni Association's inaugural “Aztecs Ask” Web chat.

Jean Twenge, Ph.D.

“It was a nice discussion,” said Twenge of the July 20 Internet event. “I think the questions were excellent and the things people had to say were good.” As author of “Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable Than Ever Before,” Twenge was invited to discuss online with alumni her research and the publicity blitz surrounding her book.

“Generation Me,” refers to today's young people born in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Twenge describes her book as looking into “differences between generations - differences in personality, in attitudes and behavior. The essence of the book is that American culture has shifted toward a focus on the self and toward individualism over the last 30 years,” she explained.

"It was really cool to hear what other people were experiencing."

Of the half dozen chat room visitors during the hour-long event, one participant signing on as NewProf had questions about engaging students in the classroom. Others simply shared their observations regarding the book's subject matter. “It was really cool to hear what other people were experiencing,” said Twenge.

“Aztecs Ask” is a quarterly Alumni Association forum featuring individuals and issues of interest related to San Diego State University. The idea is to give alumni, no matter where they may be, an opportunity to connect with the campus. Guests may include faculty, administrators, students, alumni, and staff of SDSU. Dates, times, and guests of future chats are listed on the Alumni Association's Web site at http://www.sdsualumni.org/

According to Twenge, the Alumni Association's chat room visitors are tame compared to the television interviews and call-in radio show listeners she has encountered on her book tour. She says she would recommend “Aztecs Ask” to anyone on campus with an opportunity to participate, especially other professors. “If other people do this from their areas of research and they hear from people about their experiences,” she surmises, “they might enjoy that. I definitely did.”

SDSU's football team officially began preparing for its 2006 season August 5 with the opening of fall camp at the Aztecs' on-campus practice facility. The practice marked the start of the Chuck Long era at SDSU.

It was the first of 29 scheduled workouts prior to Aztecs' season-opener on Thursday, Aug. 31, at Qualcomm Stadium versus UTEP.

For the Aztec Football schedule, visit http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/sdsu-m-footbl-sched.html.

Support Aztec Football On The Road
Tailgates Planned for Wisconsin, San Jose State

Make plans now to join the Aztecs football team on the road this fall when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers and the San Jose State Spartans. Tailgate events cosponsored by the SDSU Alumni Association and the Aztec Athletic Foundation are planned for the games at Madison and San Jose. Alumni from throughout the Midwest and in the San Francisco Bay area are especially encouraged to attend. Details for both events are as follows:

Aztecs vs. Wisconsin Badgers Saturday, September 16th, Madison, WI
Tailgate starts at 12:30 p.m. Cost is $40 for Aztec Athletic Foundation or Alumni Association members and $50 for non-members and guests. Game tickets are $35. Kick-off is at 2:30 p.m.

Aztecs vs. San Jose State Spartans Saturday, September 30th, San Jose, CA
Tailgate starts at 12:30 p.m. Cost is $35 for Aztec Athletic Foundation or Alumni Association members and $45 for non-members and guests. Game tickets are $20. Kick-off at 3 p.m.

Purchase game tickets now by calling the SDSU Ticket Office at (619) 283-SDSU. For more information, contact the Alumni Association at (619) 594-2586 or the Aztec Athletic Foundation at (619) 594-6444.

Register for either tailgate online at http://advancement.sdsu.edu/alumni/ontheroad.htm.

Alumni Football Events
Make Plans Now

Lifetime Members Party - September 23
Attention SDSU Alumni Association lifetime members! Save this date for a lifetime members-only party the evening of the Aztecs vs. Utah game and the KGB Sky Show. All lifetime members will receive an invitation to the event set for Qualcomm Stadium inside gate A.

Homecoming - October 28
Make Homecoming 2006 an all day affair, starting with the annual War Memorial Ceremony on campus at Aztec Green, followed by the Decade Reception Reunion in Montezuma Hall, Aztec Center. NBC 7/39 reporter, Ken Kramer ('74) will be guest speaker at the Reunion.

From Aztec Center, we hope that guests will opt to "trolley on down" to Qualcomm Stadium and participate in the annual Alumni Association/Aztec Athletic Foundation tailgate party. Join NBC 7/39 reporters and SDSU alumni Ken Kramer and Kimberly King along with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, former Padres announcer Bob Chandler, and many more notable alums for this event. SDSU Alumni Association members receive free food, beverages, and a complimentary Aztec gift pack at the tailgate. Exact location and time are yet to be determined.

SDSU Deep In The Heart
DFW Aztecs Have Texas-sized Spirit

DFW Aztecs president Shawn Shook Kornegay with husband and chapter vice president Buddy Kornegay

If it's true that everything is bigger in Texas, then it shouldn't be long before the new Dallas/Fort Worth Aztecs alumni group is the SDSU Alumni Association's largest chapter. That would suit chapter president Shawn Shook Kornegay ('02) just fine.

“There are so many alums that live here,” she says. “I think we have thirty members or something. It definitely has a lot more potential.” Potential, indeed.

Alumni Association records show more than 600 SDSU alumni living in the “Metroplex,” as the North Texas area between and surrounding Dallas and Fort Worth is known. Until recently, there was little to bind them together, until Shook Kornegay came along. The former SDSU Alumni Association communications specialist began organizing get-togethers, inviting all the Aztec alumni she could find.

“Shawn has done some great work. I think all the credit in the world goes to her,” says Vinit Ahooja ('02), a new Alumni Association lifetime member. “She recruited me to sign up and I had always intended to, but just never got around to it.”

Ahooja was one of the alumni attending the DFW Aztecs' first gathering since the Alumni Association's board of directors voted in late June to grant official chapter status to the group. The event was a pool party at Shook Kornegay's house. “It was fun,” says Ahooja, who grew up in Mira Mesa. “We just spent the weekend talking about going up to Julian for the apples and the beach and Winston's, the bar in OB, and it was cool to get together with people like that.”

One of the group was Shook Kornegay's husband, Buddy ('03), the chapter's vice president. Other officers include Stephen Coslik ('71) and Tony Shuman (‘82) who serve as directors. Both were instrumental in helping to launch the chapter.

"There's not that many of us out here."

“It's been fun to connect with other San Diego State alumni at some of these happy hours,” says Shuman, who for four years has held the post of president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth. “There's not that many of us out here.”

Coslik, who serves on the advisory board for SDSU's College of Business, likes the idea of extending the university's reach into Texas. “I think it would just be good to put roots of San Diego State into the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, creating more of a sense of community,” he explains.

That community covers a lot of territory. “That's one of the main challenges,” observes Shook Kornegay, noting that Dallas and Forth Worth are more than 30 miles apart. “It's kind of like L.A. and Orange County together,” she surmises. “It's so big.”

Since Shook Kornegay and the other officers work or live in Fort Worth, most of the chapter's events have taken place there. Dallas resident Debbie Boyce ('78) says the distance doesn't matter. “I'm just one of the people who has gone to all the events,” the La Jolla native says, adding that as long as it involves the DFW Aztecs, “I would probably go to almost anything.”

DFW Aztecs Alumni Chapter at the January 2006 SDSU vs. TCU basketball game.

One of the events that brought the DFW group together was the Aztec men's basketball game at Texas Christian University in January. “We had a good turnout,” remembers Ahooja. “We were probably louder than the TCU fans combined because I think San Diego State was beating them up pretty bad. It wasn't much of a game.”

“Now that San Diego State is in the same conference as TCU, I think we'll have an opportunity to have some good organized events and have some fun,” Ahooja speculates.

Shook Kornegay, who works as TCU's assistant director of communications, agrees. “Certainly the largest and most popular opportunities are athletic-related because with TCU joining the Mountain West (Conference) last year that provides the opportunity for San Diego State coming to the area, so that's huge.”

"Some day San Diego State is going to surprise you."

All the DFW alumni say they're looking forward to the Aztec football team's visit to TCU November 18. “I would be the first person to be out there cheering if they would ‘whup' a Texas school, trust me,” laughs Boyce. “I'm sick of these Texans talking about how great all their schools are because of the football teams and this and that. I'm just going, 'some day, some day San Diego State is going to surprise you guys.'”

In the meantime, Shook Kornegay continues her mission to round up Texas Aztecs. “I was getting my car washed one day and I had my San Diego State sweatshirt on and some guy walks up (saying) 'I went to San Diego State,'” she recalls. “I got his card and connected with him.” She vows to expand her Lone Star list by telephone and email.

“A lot of kudos to Shawn in organizing this thing,” says Ahooja. “Now that we're a formal chapter, I think there's bigger and better things ahead.”

Mailing Address:
San Diego State University Alumni Association
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-1690