Republicans on campus and their current issues

The Long Beach College Republican organization once known as the Conservative Student Union club stayed busy this past semester supporting propositions such as Prop 19 and helping many students register to vote.  

They also held weekly meetings to go over their agenda and discuss current political issues. One of the major issues the club is currently working on is getting enough signatures to recall the ASI president.They believe that the ASI president is overpaid and that if the student body could force ASI to re-distribute the money elsewhere it could better the university.

Another one of their projects currently being worked on is the, Beach Pride Referendum; which proposes to have $21 added to student’s tuition in order to help support the university sports department. They believe it is important to support CSULB's sports team financially, specifically because they have such great teams. This will help them operate correctly and they will be better prepared to compete against other colleges.

“We want to do good for the society not necessarily for big business, we think it would benefit the university as a whole,” said Jason Aula, President of the Long Beach College Republican organization. 

If anyone is interested in joining contact: jaula@csulb.edu

What is Pillow Top?

Pillow Top is the name of an annual meeting that the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority hosts each year that will be held tomorrow in the USU building room 205. There will be various topics discussed that include relationships, sex, media influence, education and other important topics. This event is not just for sororities, the whole student body is invited to come out and voice their opinion.

The organization hosting this event is the first Greek letter sorority founded by African-American women in 1908. This alone separates the sorority from all the other organizations like it on campus.

Their monthly meetings help the sorority sisters keep in contact with one another as they discuss prior and future events.

Like many sororities there is a membership fee that is required to join as well as a yearly fee in order to be considered an active member.

Destiny McGill, the chapter president on campus, believes it is a great investment, considering the fact that it isn’t just a temporary membership but a membership of a lifetime.

“I think that it has a lot to offer. Outside of networking and sisterhood, it builds and strengths your character. It makes you so much more organized and it offers great connections. You’ll always have someone there. You’re a part of something so huge, we’re in Japan, Canada, and even the Caribbean, it really has a lot to offer!”

So if you are interested in participating at the Pillow Top event or have questions about Alpha Kappa Alpha contact them at: aka-csulb@hotmail.com

A club that offers more than just the opportunity to meet new people

The CSULB swing club, once closed, and now re-opened, offers swing dance lessons along with social dancing every Monday from 7-10:30 p.m. Although it hasn’t been easy to get students interested in this older style of partner dancing they have been able to gather around 30 active members this semester.

In the 21st century, swing dancing along with jazz have lost a lot of their popularity they once had. Other dances like salsa can still be heard at popular nightclubs and are still considered somewhat mainstream.

At CSULB the clubs main role is to instruct the student how to swing dance with a partner and also as part of a group. It is a social dance. Unlike hip-hop or other dances in which you are instructed to dance side by side and are free to do your own dance moves, swing dancing requires you to touch and engage in the same dance moves together.

Throughout the first 40-45 minutes of the club meeting the students are taught different dance moves and are coached as they practice them. Most students that become members of the club are either curious of swing dancing or have heard of it through their older family members or friends. They aren’t advanced or professional dancers in any way.

Once the swing dance lesson is over the club engages in social dancing afterwards. This is where the members are free to mingle with each other and engage in a group dance. Members enjoy this because they are able to have the option to come to either one activity or both depending on what works for their schedules.

President of the CSULB swing club, Augie Freeman, said, “ It’s just fun it makes people happy, it’s a good way to release stress, and meet new people, make connections, get away from your studies, and forget about all your responsibilities, and I think that’s one of the biggest things about not just swing dancing and the club at our campus, it really is just fun.”

How hard is it to be a part of an honor society?

This year only 20 students made it into the Phi Beta Kappa Society on campus. Which is the oldest and some would argue the most prestigious Honor Society in the United States. In the California CSU system there are only 3 chapters of its kind and CSULB is part of that group.  

An extensive selection process must be done in order for a school to be granted a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The officers of the chapter must do a walkthrough of the school campus, the school must show enough resources to be able to support it, and there has to be enough staff on campus that are Phi Beta Kappa members as well. Once a chapter is established the recruiting begins.

There are several requirements that a student must fulfill in order to be considered a runner up for membership. A student must have completed at least 60 units while attending CSULB and of those 60 units a student must have acquired an overall GPA of at least 3.7. A student must also have taken a broad range of classes to show that they have an overall knowledge of various subjects. After completing all of these requirements you are sent an invitation letter that invites you to apply for the society but it does not guarantee acceptance.

Phi Beta Kappa admits around 20-30 students from CSULB each year. The group that is responsible for looking over applications and deciding who will be accepted are the chapters President, Vice-President and other officers in charge of the Chapter at school.  

To many it is a huge honor to be awarded the letter of acceptance into the society. It helps many with things like applying for a new job. When Phi Beta Kappa is put on a resume many employers recognize the name and understand that hard work that goes into being part of the society.

Although many students can agree it isn’t easy to fulfill all of the societies’ requirements it isn’t impossible.

Dr. Kelemen President of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at CSULB explains, “it’s matter of how they do academically, every year I see several students who have families, students who are non-traditional students, just last year we admitted a mother of two who had come back to college, and who also had her two sons attending college at the time.”

The best thing a student that wants to be part of the society can do, besides just getting good grades, is to look very carefully at their criteria on their website http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/phibetakappa/Selection_Criteria.html and make sure to take courses that are required in order to be considered a good candidate for membership.

To find out who belongs to Phi Beta Kappa go to: http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59

For a list of Phi Beta Kappa students at CSULB go to: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/phibetakappa/Members-in-Course.html