In this issue:

Down and Out
Demolition Clears the Way for New Alumni Center

Site demolition for the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.

It’s gone.

The building that for the past five years housed the offices of the SDSU Alumni Association has been razed to make way for the new $11 million Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. Barely one month after a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility, the site at 55th Street at Hardy Avenue has been cleared to prepare for excavation and construction.

Demolition began the week of March 24 with removal of the red ceramic tiles from the roof of the building that was constructed in 1988 as the Football Operations Center. The stucco structure disappeared quickly. Walls began falling just before spring break with students and faculty returning to campus April 7 to find all structures on the site demolished. The only thing standing besides a few piles of debris is a construction fence surrounding the lot between the Aztrack and the SDSU Athletics building.

Crews with the Augustine Company separated recyclable materials from the rubble and removed the refuse. The cement slab that supported the former structure is being broken up with heavy equipment and hauled away.

View images of the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center site demolition at alumnicenter.sdsu.edu.

Answering the Call
Alumni Board Members Pick Up the Phone for Paver Campaign

SDSU Alumni Association Board member Tom Karlo ('75) makes a call or Project Pave the Way.

Tom Karlo (’75) knows a little something about fundraising. As associate general manager for business, finance, and operations at KPBS FM/TV, he’s been involved in countless pledge campaigns at San Diego’s public broadcasting station.

On a night in early March, however, he picked up the receiver at a downtown call center on behalf of a different cause.

“Hi Stephen,” he began. “This is Tom Karlo with the San Diego State University Alumni Association Board and I know you’re an ex-Aztec. I just wanted to know if you had received a postcard in the mail during the week about the exciting new alumni center that we broke ground on.”

Karlo was one of eight members of the SDSU Alumni Association Board of Directors making calls for Project Pave the Way, a fundraising effort associated with the new $11 million Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. The campaign offers alumni a chance to leave a lasting legacy in the new facility by etching their name, the names of loved ones, or a special message in the rotunda.

“I’M A PART OF SAN DIEGO STATE”

Each caller worked from a list of Alumni Association lifetime members, who are the first to be offered opportunities to have their names on the new center. None considered himself or herself an expert at placing calls, but each board member was committed to the cause.

SDSU Alumni Association Board member Martha Beckman calls SDSU alumni for Project Pave the Way.

“I believe in what I’m doing,” Karlo explained of his willingness to dial up a complete stranger. “I feel that a paver is a great chance to be a part of the Alumni Center. To have your name somewhere, I think, is very exciting and you can always say, ‘I’m a part of it and I’m a part of San Diego State.’” Within minutes, Karlo had received two pledges.

After dialing several numbers with no answer, board member Martha Beckman reached an alumnus who agreed to donate $1,000 for a paver. “It was exciting,” she said. “I had a nice conversation with him about the alumni building and the campus. He graduated from school around the same time I did, so we had a few things to talk about.”

Board member Bob Raines also received an early pledge, but admitted to reaching “mostly answering machines.” Raines explained that placing calls for a campaign wasn’t something he was accustomed to doing. “I’m a little uncomfortable,” he confessed, “but I’ve worked with people my whole life, so it’s not that big a deal.”

“Besides, these aren’t people I have to explain, ‘Well, what does SDSU stand for?’ Raines continued. “It’s not like these are weirdos. These are all alums. Most of them know about the Alumni Center.”

DONATIONS FUND CONSTRUCTION

SDSU Alumni Association Board member Bob Raines on the phone for Project Pave the Way.

The new center is funded entirely through donations. A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 4. Site demolition is already virtually finished and construction is expected to be complete by June of 2009. The Pave the Way campaign is designed to give Aztec alumni the opportunity to be acknowledged in the signature rotunda entry way to the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.

Pavers are available for donations of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000. Board members placing the calls said most of the alumni they talked to were supportive of the campaign and excited about the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center even if they were unprepared to donate at the moment.

“A couple said, ‘You know what? A thousand dollars is a little tough right now,’” said Karlo, “but nobody was rude or anything. These are all people who are Aztecs and they’ve been very nice about it.”

Leave your legacy at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center at www.sdsualumni.org/pavers.

2008 Monty Awards
Distinguished Alumni Honored at Annual Gala

The accomplishments of eleven of San Diego State University’s distinguished alumni were celebrated at the 37th annual Monty Awards gala held March 29 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. More than 400 alumni, friends, and family members turned out to honor the awardees who included authors, educators, scientists, and community leaders.

Faculty Monty Award winner and SDSU Theater professor Peter Larlham returned for his second year as emcee of the event. Students and alumni of SDSU’s Theatre program provided the evening’s entertainment. A silent auction before the event raised just over $10,000 that will support Alumni Association programs such as student scholarships.

The Monty is a symbol of achievement and success presented to distinguished alumni from each of the seven SDSU academic colleges, as well as the university’s Imperial Valley campus and Library and Information Access division. Distinguished service awards are also presented to an exceptional alumni volunteer and an outstanding university employee.

See a complete list of 2008 Monty Award recipients and view their videos at alumni.sdsu.edu/montys/2008.

Keeping in Contact
Graduating Students Join Alumni Association to Stay in Touch with SDSU

Graduating senior Ryan Dee (l) becomes an Alumni Association lifetime member at Gradfest.

Veronica Butler is the first person in her family to earn a college degree. The Rockford, Illinois native completed the program for her social work degree in four years, always taking a full load of classes despite the demands of being a mother of two.

“It was really hard,” she admitted while snaking her way through the Gradfest line to score graduation tickets and purchase her cap and gown. “Summers, internships, whatever classes I could take, that’s what I did.”

Passing the Alumni Association table staffed by volunteer members, she decided to join the organization. “I just wanted to stay in contact with what’s going on with the school,” Butler reasoned. “I figure since I worked so hard to be here, I might as well stay in contact.”

A QUALITY EDUCATION

Butler was among more than 1,000 graduating SDSU students expected to take advantage of a special Alumni Association membership offer at the three-day Gradfest 2008 event April 8 – 10. For 20 dollars, each graduating student receives a one-year membership in the Alumni Association along with special discounts on bookstore items and a gift of a t-shirt and free pair of sunglasses from Sunglass Cabana.

Ryan Dee signed up to become a lifetime member. Having completed his communications degree with a public relations emphasis, he hopes to continue his Aztec experience with an MBA from San Diego State. “I’m really, really happy with the quality of the education I received here,” Dee said. “It’s fantastic.”

Graduating senior Brian Uno signs up for an Alumni Association membership at Gradfest.

That’s an opinion shared by new Alumni Association member Brian Uno, who spent six years working on his interdisciplinary studies degree. “I loved it,” Uno said of his time at SDSU. “I learned a lot of interesting things. The classes here weren’t what I expected. It was a lot more hands-on, a lot more student-teacher interaction, which is what I like.”

A Chula Vista native, Uno said he hopes his Alumni Association membership will provide networking opportunities in the film industry and help him stay connected to campus during a career he expects will likely take him to Los Angeles.

“I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!”

Meeting students like Uno, Dee, and Butler is why Elsie Figueroa (’92) volunteered to work at Gradfest. “It’s a very nice way to interact with the students and to meet people,” she said, “and to become active again.”

Answering students’ questions and helping them fill out their membership applications, Figueroa experienced her first Gradfest as a volunteer. Although she works in San Diego schools as an interpreter and translator, she said she welcomed the opportunity to return to the place she so enjoyed as a student.

Alumni Association volunteer Elsie Figueroa ('92) assists students at Gradfest.

“I love this school,” Figueroa beamed as she surveyed the queue before her. “I like to be around the students. It brings me nice memories because I had a very good time when I was going here. I love San Diego State!”

Judging from their responses, the new Alumni Association members feel the same way. “I got a great education,” Butler assessed. “The professors are super-nice. They help you with anything you need to be helped with and the school itself is a very friendly community, so I would encourage anybody to apply to SDSU.”

Here’s hoping that, like Figueroa, Butler and her classmates hold on to those feelings for a lifetime.

View a list of new SDSU Alumni Association lifetime members at alumni.sdsu.edu/lifetime_members.

Learning by Returning
Retiree Finds Interests and Excitement as Campus Volunteer

When Janis O’Dell (’80) retired from her information technology position at Northrop Grumman a couple of years ago, she found herself with some time on her hands. When she saw that the SDSU Alumni Association’s Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter was looking to reconnect with its graduates, she decided to check it out.

SDSU Alumni Association lifetime member Janis O'Dell ('80) volunteers at Gradfest.

“I hadn’t been on campus in twenty years,” remembers O’Dell. “Then after I retired I thought, ‘Oh, an alumni group. That sounds kind of interesting. Maybe I’ll go.’”

She has returned to campus regularly ever since.

“I’ve been coming now for the last two years or more,” she says. “I’ve been attending every function that they have and I’ve made friends and met a lot of really nice people who are all interested in showing how great a university this really is.”

One of the functions O’Dell recently attended was the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter’s “Meet the Professor” event featuring Seth Mallios, the university’s anthropology department chair. A history major as a student, she was fascinated by the professor’s discussion of the Hardy Tower mural preservation effort and his work at the homestead site of early San Diego County pioneer Nate Harrison.

“I knew about the murals because I had just gone to a presentation about them,” O’Dell recalls, “but as far as Nate Harrison and all of that, I had heard a little bit about it, but I learned a lot more this time, so that was interesting.”

RECONNECTING

O’Dell soon began volunteering to help with some of the events she was attending, but she says she was hesitant at first about returning to a place with which she had lost contact.

“I think I was little timid about coming back initially because I thought, ‘Okay, I know I’m going to walk in here and I’m not going to know a soul.’” She explains. “But the fact that we all have in common that we did attend school here and care about the university and the people in it and the city and all of that, I think, brings you together, so pretty soon you start talking to people and you make friends and it’s great.”

In her latest volunteer stint, O’Dell, who is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association, signed up new Alumni Association members at Gradfest. She says she enjoys the energy of exchanges with graduating students about to embark on new life adventures and careers. “It’s very exciting,” she says. “Everybody is feeling really good about what they’ve done. It’s nice to see the young people, especially, come through and looking at all of the things that are available. It’s kind of like a big bonanza.”

SOMETHING WORTHWHILE

O’Dell admits she gets a bigger charge out of spending time with her two six-year-old grandchildren, but says the time she spends on campus fills a need for her. “I feel like I’m accomplishing something instead of just existing,” she observes, “so I think it’s a really good thing. It is highly beneficial as far as keeping me from watching television or whatever and I have yet to be disappointed as far as any of the functions I’ve come to.”

“I think it’s great to spend some time on something I think is worthwhile,” she concludes, offering up a bit of advice to other Aztec alums who might be considering whether they should become more involved with the university.

“Go for it! Do it!” O’Dell emphatically advises. “If you have the time and the inclination and can do it, it’s just a great way to meet people and feel like you’re getting something done. There are just so many events to take part in and keep advised of what’s going on. I think it’s just a super thing to do.”

To volunteer on a chapter board, contact Diane Barragan at alumnichapters@sdsu.edu or call (619) 594-2586.

Register Now for Alumni Luau
Details Set for May 16 “Polynesian Extravaganza”

Imagine yourself relaxing, sipping a Mai Tai, and enjoying the laid-back culture of the islands without packing a bag for the journey. It happens Friday, May 16 when the South Seas come to San Diego with a genuine Polynesian luau sponsored by the SDSU Alumni Association.

A fire-knife performance, lei greeting, and live traditional Hawaiian music are just a few of the elements planned for the May 16 alumni luau at San Diego’s Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa. The event for Alumni Association members promises an exotic evening of food, fun, and fellowship in the classic tradition of the islands.

The luau is planned from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. and will take place in tropical surroundings that will include fiery tiki torches to help set the mood. Tickets are just $62 for SDSU Alumni Association lifetime members, $69 for annual members, $73 for non-members, and $33 for all children 3-10.

Admission Includes:

• Lei greeting
• No-host Mai Tai bar
• Live traditional Hawaiian music
• Luau buffet
• Polynesian Entertainment and Fire-Knife performance
• SDSU Program and Raffle

For more information and to register, visit alumni.sdsu.edu/luau.htm or call the SDSU Alumni Association at (619) 594-ALUM (2586).

Different Strokes
20/30s Alumni Plan Miniature Golf Tournament

Do you share Tiger’s skills? Are you an expert golfer? Challenge yourself as well as fellow Aztecs at the first 20/30s Alumni Golf Tournament - make that “miniature” golf tournament - to be held at Boomer's (6999 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92111) on Saturday, May 17 from 12 to 3 p.m. Cost is $10 if you pre-register or $15 at the door. The price includes tourney entry (1 round of golf) and a boatload of fun!

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:

• Alumni Chapter or group with the most participants
• Lowest overall score
• Highest overall score
• Most holes-in-one
• Best “Happy Gilmore”-style shot

Invite your friends and/or family members to participate! The more people you invite, the more points your group earns. When you register, please make sure to enter your group's name in the Special Instructions area of the registration form.

Register online at alumni.sdsu.edu/2030s by May 15. If you have any questions, please email Jen at jranallo@mail.sdsu.edu or Ally at allycuando@sdsualumni.org.

Football: Aztecs vs. Notre Dame
Travel Packages Available

Notre Dame Stadium University of Notre Dame photo.

Tour packages are available for the September 6 Aztecs football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. The game will mark the first time the two schools have competed in football.

A travel package is now the only way for Alumni Association members to absolutely guarantee game tickets, which have sold quickly. Tour packages from Chicago to South Bend range from $1,429 for a single four-day tour to a $339-per-person game day tour in which tickets are included.

For more information on travel packages, visit www.doddsathletictours.com/sdsu/notredame/ or call (877) 373-5059.

For the latest news on Aztec Athletics, visit www.goaztecs.com.

Alumni Hosts Needed
Etiquette Dinner to Reinforce Student Skills

Students about to enter the professional world may soon find themselves attending power lunches and business dinners. They need to know the finer points of making a good impression through proper dining etiquette.

To help hone their skills, on Tuesday, April 15, the Student Alumni Association will hold its first Student Alumni Etiquette Dinner. At the dinner, an etiquette expert will instruct current students in the basic etiquette skills they will use during their professional careers.

The Student Alumni Association is looking for SDSU alumni to serve as hosts for the dinner. Each host will sit with a group of students to help facilitate the evening’s etiquette instruction. You need not be an etiquette expert to serve as a host.

Dinner begins at 6 p.m. in Casa Real (Aztec Center on the SDSU campus). Cost of the event is $20 and includes a full dinner and parking. Register online at sdsualumni.org or contact the Alumni Association’s Jen Ranallo at jranallo@mail.sdsu.edu or (619) 594-0541 if you have any questions.

Reception with the President
Stephen L. Weber to Visit Sacramento

The SDSU Sacramento Capital Alumni Chapter invites you to a reception featuring San Diego State University President Stephen L. Weber on Monday, April 28. The president will deliver a briefing on the current status and future possibilities of San Diego State University.

The reception will be held from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at The Boiler, 1201 K Street in Sacramento. The cost of $20 per person includes appetizers and a beverage. Please RSVP by April 25 at chapters.sdsu.edu/sacramento or call Diane Barragan at (619) 594-2586.

Bay Area Aztecs Meet and Greet
Event Features Football Head Coach Chuck Long

Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m.
Location: Chevy's - 979 Edgewater Blvd., Foster City
Cost: $10 per person

Join the Bay Area Aztecs Alumni Chapter on May 3 at Chevy's in Foster City for a chance to meet Aztec Football head coach, Chuck Long. He will be speaking about the upcoming season, in particular, the games at Notre Dame and San Jose State.

Register online by May 1. For more information, visit chapters.sdsu.edu/bay_area or contact Keith Harris at keith@sdsualumni.org with questions.

Greater Los Angeles Chapter Reception with the President
Stephen L. Weber to Meet with LA Aztecs

Wednesday, May 14 at 6 p.m.
Location: Arnie Morton's The Steakhouse - 735 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Cost: $20 per person

Join the Greater LA Area Alumni Chapter on May 14 at Morton's Steakhouse in Downtown Los Angeles for a reception featuring President Stephen L. Weber. He will be giving a brief overview of current affairs at SDSU and answering your questions.

Register online by April 25. For more information, visit chapters.sdsu.edu/la or contact Mike Stevens at (310) 289-4492 or by email at sdsuaagla@yahoo.com with any questions.

Working Together
Alumni Chapter Spreads the Word of Campus Programs

Seth Mallios, Ph.D., delivers a presentation at the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter's "Meet the Professor" event.

Seth Mallios clearly loves his work. When the SDSU anthropology department chair gets excited about a project, his enthusiasm is contagious. The excitement was clearly evident last month when Mallios was the featured speaker for the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter’s “Meet the Professor” event.

A crowd of 50 alumni, faculty, and students gathered at the Aztec Athletic Hall of Fame to hear Mallios discuss, among other things, the discovery and subsequent preservation of two WPA-era murals recently discovered in Hardy Tower. The murals, painted in the 1930s by SDSU students, are believed to be the only two surviving murals of several that were painted throughout Hardy Tower.

Mallios detailed the painstaking six-month effort to remove the murals, which were painted directly on the walls, for relocation in the SDSU Library. Although he conveyed the unique method of the preservation project in a fascinating description to his audience, he also hoped his presentation would serve a greater purpose.

“One of the things I’m trying to do with this talk is to tie together a bunch of the different programs we do,” Mallios explained, “because one of our real strengths within the College of Arts and Letters is how diverse we are. We’re like a university within a college.”

STRONG FOUNDATIONS

The College’s diversity and relationship to the community are things the administration, faculty, and the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter try to promote through events like “Meet the Professor.” The goal is to link alumni and others with what’s happening in research and instruction on campus.

Dean Paul Wong talks with Arts & Letters Alumni Chapter member Elsa Saxod.

“I think these kinds of events connect us very much to the San Diego community and tell people about the great work our faculty and our students are engaged in,” said College of Arts and Letters dean Paul Wong, Ph.D. “We have a fabulous chapter and this chapter, in the years I’ve been here, has built very strong foundations of connecting to a lot of different alumni who we have not been in touch with before in San Diego and throughout the country.”

Madhu Madhavan, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of Asian studies and economics who supports the chapter’s goals. “This is very important to bring together alumni and the faculty,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for the alumni as well as the faculty to contribute to each other’s overall well being and growth.”

That’s how Janis O’Dell (’80) feels about events like “Meet the Professor.” She joined the Alumni Association as a lifetime member and belongs to the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter. Now retired, she volunteers on campus and attends chapter programs to stay involved.

“I learned a lot of things,” she said of Mallios’ presentation. “He has so much enthusiasm for his subject matter and just gets everybody involved. It’s just great.”

Professor Emeritus, Madhu Madhavan, Ph.D. attends the Arts and Letters Alumni Chapter's "Meet the Professor" event.

It is also inspiring. So what can alumni do to support work like his?

ALUMNI SUPPORT

“I think there are a few different avenues,” Mallios said. “The obvious one is financial support, being that we are funded by the state and the state is struggling so much right now. That means we’re struggling.”

“But in general,” he proceeded, “it’s about making yourself available in terms of talking about your experiences at State and freeing up your address book to the people you know.”

“For example, I’m still trying to find pictures of one mural that we have parts of. I know somebody in this city has a photo of that mural. I just haven’t been able to find them yet. So I think in a lot of historical studies like these, for people who went to school here in the forties, fifties, and sixties, really bringing their knowledge and experiences to the table is key.”

Mallios insists his work is just the tip of the iceberg at SDSU. “This university has hired so many good young faculty since 2000 that the community would really be stunned just at the momentum we have right now,” he said. “You see that SDSU is the top small research university, but I think what’s lost in that is all the individual people who are doing that amazing research.”

“There are literally hundreds of faculty doing great work,” he continued, “and I would say to the alumni, whatever your interest is, whether it’s foreign languages, literature, or whatever, to contact the chairs of those departments to see what’s going on and get involved.”

To get involved with one of the 26 Alumni Chapters, visit chapters.sdsu.edu or contact Diane Barragan at alumnichapters@sdsu.edu or (619) 594-2586.