Issue 18: Summer 2009 Quarter - July 2009

Farewell from PEEP Donna Hay

This is my last newsletter. David graduated in June and the newsletter duties will be assumed by PEEP Virginia Mushkatblat. It's been a blast, and I am continuing on the Foundation Board, and will be involved as an alum PEEP! (By the way, we are looking for an assistant editor for the newsletter to help Virginia, hint hint!)

EEP Names in the News

Dr. Maddox!

Congrats to Rich! Hard to believe but it has been four years since he started on his doctorate, and his graduation was in May. He is now officially Dr. Maddox!

Gifting to Rich. The Fentons generously offered to match donations to Rich. He incurred a lot of expense getting his Ed.D. at USC, so if you want to give him a gift, money is always just right and much appreciated! Send it as a directed donation to the Early Entrance Foundation, 16311 Ventura Blvd, Suite #1298, Encino 91436, and it will be 100% tax-deductible and given to Rich with a matching grant from the Fentons! If you would prefer to do it online, just visit the Foundation website and you can use a charge.

EEPsters in the News! Congrats to the following who are just a few of our amazing EEPsters. Please email Rich if your EEPster's accomplishment was overlooked, so it can be included in subsequent newsletters!

• Natasha Spottiswoode

  EEP alum Natasha Spottiswoode not only received the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi graduate Fellowship (one of only 60 students nationwide), but was accepted to Oxford University for a master's program in biological science (see article).
• The article states she is the 11th CSULA student in the past 12 years to be awarded the Fellowship -- all 11 were EEPsters!
• Alum Brandon Pancost has graduated from UCLA with a MS in computer science, and presented his Master's research paper in Tokyo.
• Alum Eleanor Chen has been accepted to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
• Alum John Chin was asked to join a traveling Julliard performance group as a visiting pianist. John was asked to apply for Julliard’s professional degree called an Artist Diploma.
• Alum Chris Humphrey will starts his masters program at Stanford in fall (fully funded by his employer).

• Miss Palm Springs, Vanessa Sheldon!

  Alum Dr. Vanessa R. Sheldon, Miss Palm Springs, won the Classical Performer Talent award at the Miss California Pageant in June.
• Congrats to the incoming EEPC officers: 2009-2010 EEPC President Millie G and Vice President, Charissa K!
• Cristina DC and Raj S were awarded the Golden Eagle Award of Excellence
• Theresa Cheng's article on moral intuitions entitled: "Assessing the Use, Usefulness, and Justifiability of Moral Intuitions" and David Nagy’s article entitled: "Deconstructing Utilitarianism: Why happiness is not the only basis for morality" were published in the philosophy department student journal, "Philosophy in Practice."
• Fiona C was one of only 10 undergrads chosen to work with visiting artist Cindy Bernard.
• EEPsters John Michael S and David W were elected to next year's ASI Board of Directors.
• Angela G is the recipient of a $500 scholarship from E1 Financial Credit Union.

YouTube video of 2009 EEP grads

EEP Grads 2009. 22 EEPsters graduated this June, and 13 of them graduated with honors! That is, their GPAs were in the top 5% of all CSULA graduates. For more details on the grads, visit CSULA article. Congrats to:

• Lubabah Ben-Ghaly, 19, biology major, cum laude, will work as a laboratory assistant before graduate school.
• Jennifer Chemel, 20, economics major with math and political science minors, magna cum laude. Chemel, who plans a career in law in the future, will first spend a year in Israel. Chemel was President of ASI and gave the graduation address.
• Angela Chen, 18, telecommunications and film major, summa cum laude. Chen, who plans to become a filmmaker and professor, will apply to graduate school this winter.
• Roy Cheng, 19, psychology major. Cheng, currently applying to graduate school, was a research assistant for Professor Kaveri Subrahmanyam in the Media and Language Laboratory.
• Theresa Cheng, 19, philosophy and biology majors, summa cum laude. Cheng will soon be teaching 9th grade biology through Teach for America, a program that trains top students to teach in poor communities. Recipient of a 2009 James Bright Wilson Award.

• grads at the celebratory dinner

  Alexander Connelly, 19, biochemistry major with management minor. Connelly has applied to medical school to pursue his goal of becoming a cardiologist.
• Christine Do, 18, biology major with math minor. Do is applying to a master’s program before heading to medical school.
• Steven Gee, 19, biochemistry major. Gee will attend UC San Francisco’s neuroscience Ph.D. program, was also accepted to UCLA, UC Irvine and Yale. At CSULA, he conducted research with Professors Nickolaisen and Xu.
• Maggie Herskowitz, 18, psychology major, cum laude. Herskowitz, whose goal is to become a theatre actress, will attend the Boston Conservatory of Music as a musical theater major this fall, as well as studying at Berklee College of Music.
• Andrea Kulier article, 17, physics and mathematics major, summa cum laude. Kulier, at 17 the youngest graduating senior, will be at Princeton's astrophysical sciences department with paid tuition and $33,000 fellowship. She was also accepted to Ph.D. programs at UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Harvard, UC Santa Cruz, Caltech, and the University of Chicago. See ABC Cool Kid newsclip.

• grads at the celebratory dinner

  Margaret Lee, 19, biology major. Lee will be applying to graduate school in genetic counseling.
• David Nagy, 19, philosophy major, magna cum laude. Nagy plans a joint JD/Ph.D. in philosophy, and will enter IUC-Yokohama for Japanese Language Studies. He is the founding president of the CSULA Mock Trial Club, and is a recipient of the Philosophy Department’s James Bright Wilson Award.
• Nika Nourmohammadi, 18, communication studies major. Nourmohammadi, will pursue a master's degree in communication studies at Johns Hopkins University. Founder of the CospLAy student organization, she also served as president for Lambda Pi Eta, Eagle Eye Public Relations Club, The RhetOracles, and People for Animal Care and Kindness.
• Zeeshan Ott, 17, social work major, cum laude. Ott will attend Columbia University’s social work master’s program, with plans to pursue a law degree and work with children and families.
• Swapneel Patel, 18, biochemistry and physics major, cum laude. Patel, who aspires to become a physician or scientist, studied molecular biology with Professor Vellanoweth.
• Sharon Ready, 20, electrical engineering major with mathematics minor. Ready, who plans to apply to graduate school, developed a see-through stucco stud detector as part of a senior design project sponsored by DirecTV.
• Lea Richardson, 20, biology major, summa cum laude. Richardson, who plans to apply to graduate school, was named Organic Chemistry Student of the Year in 2007.
• Stephanie Sung, 20, biochemistry major with political science minor. Sung, who would like to become a health ambassador, will be working as a marketing consultant for the nutraMetrix program for doctors.
• Claire Weinan, 19, electrical engineering major with mathematics minor, magna cum laude. Weinan, who plans to apply to graduate school this fall, is interning at the Aerospace Corporation. She served as president of the Engineering, Computer Science, Technology Student Council. She garnered the All-CCAA and CSULA Athletics Academic Achievement Awards, CSULA Golden Eagle Award of Excellence, James M. Rosser Endowed Scholarship.
• Debbie Yen, 17, biology major, magna cum laude. Yen, who will be heading to UC Berkeley in the fall, was also accepted to graduate programs in Boston University, Emory, Georgetown, University of Notre Dame, UCLA, University of Texas, and the College of William and Mary. She conducted research in Professor Nissen’s genetics lab.
• Details on Lara Roizen and Alex Stevens were unavailable at press time. Should you wish a copy of the commencement dvd, visit http://www.calstatela.edu/eagleslive/.

Congrats to Adrian, Angela & William, Chad, And Nika!

EEP Talent Show. The annual amazingly bodacious SEC night was held on Friday June 12th on campus. Congrats to the following talented winners: