Q and A with Big West Athlete of the Week : Rosa Del Toro

Last Saturday, senior cross country runner Rosa Del Toro broke the school record for the 5K, with a time of 17:09.8 at the Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara. A few days ago, the conference announced that Del Toro had been selected for Athlete of the Week.

Q: What were some of your general goals and/or expectations coming into this season?

                       

A: I had and still several goals this season that I want to accomplish.  My main goal is always to improve and have a better cross country season than I did last year.  My main goal this season is to make it to nationals, it’s going to be hard but nothing ever comes easy.  

Q: How do you think you've grown and improved since last year not only as an athlete but as a person?

           

A: I think that I've grown so much from last year both as an athlete and as a person.  As an athlete I have gained so much experience and learned from it every step of the way.  Running has helped me personally in way which it has made me a stronger person, and much more determined and hard working person.  The fact that I know I need to work hard to improve in running helps me see things outside of running in that same way, that I always have to work hard and be determined to get far in life. 

Q: Describe your initial feelings once you learned about setting the school record, and explain what it means to you

           

A: I was pretty surprised when I found out that I had set a school record.  But, all that was running through my mind was that I still need to improve, and I definitely have room for improvement just like everyone else. But, it definitely was an important stepping stone for how well I needed to do at the Big west Conference Championships. 

Q: What are some of your goals to finish out the conference and regional championships?

           

A: At conference my main goals was just to improve and place higher than 9th which is what I had placed last season.  Winning conference was something that my teammates and coach believed I could do and thanks to their support I was able to win conference.  For the regional championships I definitely have high goals, the competition is amazing and I am excited to work hard and place high in order to make it to nationals. Regional’s is the race I have been training for all season.

Sources and story ideas

Sources:

1. Mauricio Ingrassia, head women's soccer coach. mingrass@csulb.edu

2. Joey Cerulle, head women's golf coach. jcerulle@csulb.edu

3. Brian Gimmillaro, head women's soccer coach. bgimmill@csulb.edu

4. Victor Cegles, athletic director. (562) 985-4655, vcegles@csulb.edu

Story ideas:

1. Interview/feature type story on "Student/Athlete of the week" Rochelle Chan, sophomore and member of the golf team.

2. Women's soccer game, Sunday October 9 at 3 PM

3. Women's volleyball game Friday, October 14 at 7 PM

4. Women's volleyball game Saturday, October 15 at 7 PM 

Cell phones: gift and a curse

The double edged sword

There are a few things students should look out for and try to avoid when walking to class: on-coming bikers, skaters, scooters and newest addition—distracted cell phone users.

It may be a difficult task to journey across campus without bumping into a few students who are looking down at their cell phones. According to a new report by Cisco published this week, which surveyed 1,400 students between the ages of 18 and 23 in 14 different countries, in a given hour more than four out of five college students are interrupted by digital media (i.e. instant messaging, social media updates and phone calls).

Speaking to the importance of social networking and the internet, 91 percent of students have Facebook accounts and 27 percent of them admitted that updating their Facebook statuses was more important than partying, dating or hanging out with friends.

55 percent said they “could not live without the internet”. 66 percent stated that their mobile devices were “the most important technology in their lives”.

With the evolution of social networking and the applicability of mobile devices being capable of instantly connecting to these social sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.), it’s easy to see why so many students are attached to their phones. This begs the question: “is this a good or bad thing”?

“I think it’s a big problem if someone looks at their phone while in a conversation. It’s kind of irritating because it feels like they’re not engaged with me,” sophomore vocal music major David Pannell said.

The dynamic of upholding a social profile has perhaps created a paradox of sorts—while students are busy “socializing” online with others, they conceivably are missing out on the opportunity to share with their peers in real life. Especially at what is considered to be a commuter school in CSULB.

“It gets really annoying when my friends are texting and are not paying attention,” junior sociology major Kristin Schmalreid said.

CSULB personality psychology professor Dr. James Amirkhan has his own take on the topic.

“[I said essentially the same thing several years ago on the matter], without cell phones, students might get lonely enough to overcome their shyness and start forming connections with each other.”

“People used to smoke because it made them look a certain way and gave them something to do when their hands were nervous,” continued Dr. Amirkhan.

Students can often be spotted sitting throughout the campus with their gadgets in plain sight. In many cases seemingly detached from what’s going on around them.  Having certain mobile devices can and does assert status. Marketing and other factors could be linked to how people view phones and in turn how they view each other.

“Cell phones make you look ‘in the loop’, so people will use them wherever, whenever to impress,” said Dr. Amirkhan.

Where will the cell phone industry lead students next? Technology is ever advancing and companies are making it easier for people to utilize them. In the battle to “connect” everyone to anyone, are they in essence disconnecting people from each other in reality?

“I would think going forward we are going to become less social with each other and instead be drawn to our phones and their future functions and capabilities,” Pannell said.

Writing a news brief exercise

Yoga instructor's good deed

People are faced with a tough decision every day, but for one young yoga instructor Friday, there was no hesitation on which was the correct choice.

19 year-old Locust Valley resident Laura Hardy was presented with a few (hundred thousand) options after having lunch Friday, when she spotted a thick manila envelope on her bike ride home-- 300,000 options to be exact. As in $300,000 totaling in cash and checks made out to Fenster Ford, the area’s largest car dealer.

Upon discovering the small fortune, she immediately phoned Lincoln Federal Savings, the bank located in the same area where she found the envelope.

Through inches of snow, Hardy braved the elements to bike her way back to Lincoln. When she arrived at the bank in the early evening she was greeted by Xavier Mooney, president of Lincoln Federal Savings and Fred Fenster himself. They both thanked her and posed for photos.

In a world with so much wrong, it would have been easy to keep the cash, but not for Hardy.

            “It’s enough just to do the right thing,” Hardy said.

Raul Cabral's full plate

Student faces tough work load

By the time some people are just getting to bed, East Los Angeles resident Raul Cabral is ready to start his shift, supervising a UPS warehouse. At the dark hour of 2 A.M., he is already in Baldwin Park—processing pay roll, paperwork, shipments and daily routes. By the end of his 8 hour shift, his day has barely begun.

From Baldwin Park he hops on the 605 southbound for a routine pit stop at the Cerritos LA Fitness. He doesn’t visit to lift weights or run on the treadmills, he actually just finds it as a convenient place to freshen up for the next phase of his busy day, school.

Cabral has been a journalism student since 2004, and this semester he will inch closer to obtaining his degree. He estimates that currently he is still about 25-30 units away from graduating, mostly because he took two years off of school. He plans on taking two courses this semester, which is sandwiched in between his full time job with UPS and his part time job as a tutor in the city of Arcadia.

He first started at Pasadena City College following his passion to write by joining the campus newspaper. A long time Laker fan, his aspirations initially were to cover sports but that quickly changed during his first few classes as he ended up covering hard news as well. He would eventually become an editor and in 2008 he had transferred to CSULB.

Today he balances a hectic schedule of two jobs, school all while still finding time for his long time girlfriend of 5 years. When asked about possible future literal engagements Cabral says ‘she talks about it all the time’ with a slight smile. Before he settles down he says he would like to clear some things off his plate, and be stable himself. Who can blame him?