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The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

The student news site of Sacramento State University

The State Hornet

Julia Baum, Author

All content by Julia Baum

America needs more immigration reform

Julia Baum
May 11, 2010

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently raised the ire of a lot of people when she signed Senate Bill 1070 into law. Because of this bill, people will be required to show proof of citizenship if there is reasonable...

Party hard to get in Playboy

Julia Baum
May 4, 2010

Sacramento State, I expected more from you. You're too tame, you're no fun and your lack of instinct to party like normal, respectable college students is dragging us down. Failures. You are all total...

Take the politics out of environmentalism

Julia Baum
April 26, 2010

Why should it take another stupid made-up holiday like Earth Day for society to collectively realize we have not done much green living in our lives and need to do something about Earth's rising temperature?...

Give local fashion your support

Julia Baum
April 20, 2010

Buying from American companies is no longer enough to help our economy; we need to get as local as possible. The American garment industry as a whole has been suffering a slow death for a while. The U.S....

Banning smoking on beaches is unrealistic

Julia Baum
April 12, 2010

The recent passage by the State Assembly of Senate Bill 4 was an effort led by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, to outlaw smoking at state parks and beaches. Proponents say the passage will reduce the...

Taking care of our homeless

Julia Baum
April 6, 2010

Fundraising efforts by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and about 80 local churches to provide housing for 600 homeless families were successful this weekend; more than $225,000 was raised for the cause....

A cheap justification that invades privacy

Julia Baum
February 24, 2010

I'm a wanted woman, folks - there might be a warrant out there with my name on it.My offense was forgetting to tell the city of Sacramento that they have permission to inspect my house. Because of that,...

Fur: It?s only cruel to waste

Julia Baum
February 17, 2010

The fur is flying between Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir and animal rights activists. A little tuft of white Arctic fox fur on his costume during his free skate performance at the U.S. Figure Skating...

Refocus weed legalization

Julia Baum
February 10, 2010

The first of three initiatives to fully legalize marijuana use in California went up in smoke on Jan. 15, 2010. Written by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Assembly Bill 390 would have legalized marijuana use...

H1N1 vaccination provided at University Union

Julia Baum
December 21, 2009

Sacramento State students took precautions to avoid becoming sick before going home for the holidays by lining up for free H1N1 vaccinations on Friday at the University Union lobby. Student Health Center...

Jewish students come together to celebrate Hanukkah

Julia Baum
December 15, 2009

Jewish students from Sacramento State gathered at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium Thursday to celebrate the Sacramento Jewish Federation's community-wide Hanukkah celebration. Also known as the Festival...

Camerata Capistrano orchestra plays Baroque in concert

Julia Baum
December 15, 2009

There was no conductor guiding musicians through sheet music or any black-tie dress code to attend, but audience members experienced a world-class concert hall performance by student Baroque ensemble Camerata...

Indonesian suffering exposed in film

Julia Baum
November 22, 2009

More than 50 Sacramento State students gathered to watch "40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy," on Tuesday evening and learned about the mass killings of Indonesia during 1965 with a forum with...

Students attempting to bring Democracy Matters chapter to campus

Julia Baum
October 28, 2009

A group of Sacramento State students determined to intensify their peers' interest in the political arena held a signature drive by the library quad Wednesday to start a campus chapter of Democracy Matters....

Discussion of Prop. 8 effects

Julia Baum
October 21, 2009

Sacramento State faculty are hosting a symposium on Monday in the University Union's Hinde Auditorium to discuss how communities have been affected by and are dealing with the outcome of Proposition 8....

Student reaches for moon with research

Julia Baum
October 14, 2009

When he was in high school, Javier Gonzalez-Rocha's guidance counselor told him to pick something else to pursue in college besides mechanical engineering. The answer did not sit well with the kid whose...

Bike thefts rise on campus

Julia Baum
October 13, 2009

Sacramento State police are notifying students to make certain to lock up their bikes after a string of thefts took place on campus this week. Sergeant Kelly Clark said most of them have been stolen mainly...

Velazquez takes first place at conference

Julia Baum
September 30, 2009

Ruben Velazquez's interest in how things work goes back to his childhood when he enjoyed playing with his remotecontrolled cars and wondered what made them go.

"I would always want to modify cars and switch out the tires," Velazquez said. "I just liked it 'cause it peeled out better."

The fascination grew for the 22-year-old mechanical engineering major who even rebuilt an old dune buggy when he was still in high school. Now Velazquez's curiosity is taking him places like Texas, where last month he won first place at the National Institute for Leadership Advancement conference held in Dallas.

The annual NILA conference is a leadership training event run by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, of which Velazquez is the Sacramento State chapter president.

Velazquez called the experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and explained how getting there was not so easy.

Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States with his family when he was young and settled in Arbuckle, a small town near Woodland. Velazquez graduated from Pierce High School in 2005 and chose to attend Sac State for practical reasons.

"It was the closest university ? and it had a lot of outreach programs," Velazquez said.

Velazquez said while he loved working on cars, he knew that he would have to attend college in order to one day have the kind of life he dreamed about.

"You have a lot of options when you go to school," Velazquez said.

Velazquez started out improving his educational outlook in learning skills programs and joined the fraternity Nu Alpha Kappa.

"That really developed my skills in leadership," Velazquez said about his time in the fraternity.

Recently he has taken on many leadership projects, including creating one for Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement with his friend Laura Gonzalez.

"I had an idea to start a mentoring program using MESA," Gonzalez said. "The plan was to find students that were part of MESA during their high school career and were in four-year or community college and connect them with MESA high school students."

Gonzalez and Velazquez's program targets Latinos and other minority groups to increase the numbers attending higher education.

"We do work a lot with programs that advocate for higher education," Gonzalez said. "That's been a reoccurring theme and issue that we always advocate for."

It was Velazquez's commitment to mentor younger students that caused him and Gonzalez to meet three years ago. Both were a part of the College Assistance Migrant Program, a first-year counseling program with courses focused on introduction to college life and career or personality building.

"Students always come back, alumni always come back, so I met him as an alumni," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez's observation of Velazquez being a serious student is one that he might agree with.

"It takes me a while to learn things - it's the reason why I'm in the library most of the day," Velazquez said.

Velazquez continues to gain engineering experience with his job as an engineering technician at Folsom Dam.

He has been working there for nearly a year and a half, assisting other engineers with research and development.

Recently he helped design a safety platform for his workplace, but is restricted from discussing the details of its conceptual design because it is a federal government project.

Mariana Rivera, Velazquez's former MESA adviser, predicts he will one day use the skills he has learned at Sac State working for a company that gives back to others.

"He brings the skills he's learned over the past few years to the SHPE chapter," Rivera said. "It's something (students) take with them when they leave the community."

Velazquez's colleagues say that he can expect to have a really good year and are excited to see him continuously reach every goal he has set for himself.

"I admire him a lot as a friend and I know he'll be doing great things once he leaves Sacramento State," Gonzalez said.

Velazquez, in the meantime, continues to pursue his dreams and has more or less summed up his success to one simple factor: hard work.

Julia Baum can be reached at [email protected].

Pilot textbook rental program is a success

Julia Baum
September 23, 2009

With the Hornet Bookstore's new textbook rental program, students looking for bargains on textbooks won't have to rely solely on Internet retailers this year. Since the start of the fall semester, Sacramento...

American River Courtyard dedicated

Julia Baum
September 17, 2009

A new facet of Sacramento State life was presented to the student body with the dedication of the American River Courtyard. "Let us take this building for what it is," said Roberto Torres, Associated Students,...

ASI fills two director positions

Julia Baum
September 13, 2009

Associated Students, Inc. had their first board meeting of the school year, swearing in two new board directors and voting to create a new internal committee that will manage ASI's public relations and...

President-elect Torres on journey to success

Julia Baum
June 23, 2009

Even when Roberto Torres talks about his personal life, somehow the conversation finds its way back to work. It's an characteristic that's paid off, though. The government and communication studies double-major...

Kinko’s founder speaks on campus

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Paul Orfalea, founder and former chairman of FedEx Kinko's, spoke to a sizeable crowd on Friday morning inside the Alumni Center about how his lifelong struggle with dyslexia made him reevaluate his approach...

ASI debate a one person show

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

The Associated Students, Inc. election debate Monday afternoon at the Library Quad turned into a single candidate's personal introduction when the opponent failed to show up. Yeimi Lopez, running for undeclared...

CHESS prepares students for future

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Students majoring in areas of political studies often begin their careers serving the public at the school they attend. For most, this usually means joining their student government and trying to find...

Super Sunday unites

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

University leaders joined forces for the fourth annual Super Sunday education outreach event at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Park on Sunday. It was an effort to inform the community about...

Torres elected ASI president; athletics fee increase fails

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Sacramento State students came out to vote in record numbers for the Associated Students, Inc. election this year and chose Roberto Torres as next year's ASI president. See the ASI results page for complete...

Auditor’s Narrative: Folsom Cordova Unified School District

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

I arrived at the Folsom Cordova Unified School District office at about 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. A blonde receptionist named Tanya greeted me at the front desk. She was friendly and asked...

Obama’s sister draws a crowd

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

It wasn't a visit from the president of the United States, but it might as well have been for hundreds of Sacramento State students and faculty who were eager to hear Maya Soetoro-Ng, the younger half-sister...

CFA presents 1A to students

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

The May 19 special election will leave Californians, including Sacramento State students, in charge of deciding how to resolve the state budget crisis. Many students have expressed uncertainty about the...

Honors students share research at event

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Some of the California State University system's best and brightest students presented their projects today at the sixth annual California State University Honors Consortium Student Conference, an all-day...

Fees could rise

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Students will find out soon if Associated Students, Inc. decides to increase the Student Activities Fee by nearly $90 for fall 2009. Most of the fee increase would go toward the Athletics department. The...

Military calls raise student ire, concerns

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Sacramento State students who received telephone calls about enlisting from the U.S. Army question student-privacy laws and how the military decides who to target. Dennis Geyer, the university's registrar,...

ASI candidates accused of election violations

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

The opening days of the Associated Students, Inc., election campaign brought allegations of election code violations against several candidates. Felix Barba, ASI vice president of university affairs, accused...

Looking into the past…

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Art buffs and history scholars rubbed shoulders with curious students at a two-day American Indian History Symposium called "Guardians of Knowledge - Guardians of the Past" in the University Union on Thursday....

Visibility remains top concern for ASI

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Associated Students, Inc.'s, candidates have run on the visibility platform for several election seasons, but candidates absent at debates and sparse attendance point to little success. Attendees were...

Students discuss influence of gays, lesbians on politics

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Chelsea Del Rio, a member of the LGBT community, is grateful she has not been a victim of a hate crime. The graduate student attributes this to living in a more gay-friendly community than others, but...

ASI academic affairs, executive vice president candidates debate

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Temperatures climbed this week, and so did the number of Associated Students, Inc. candidates present for the debates held during lunchtime in the Library Quad. Last week's debates were low-key affairs,...

No contest at second ASI debate

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Tuesday afternoon's Associated Students, Inc. election debates turned into a repeat of the previous day when only one candidate and a few students showed up at the Library Quad for the event. Manny Garcha,...

‘Power of youth’ a highlight of speech

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Hundreds of Sacramento State students and faculty filled the University Union Ballroom to hear Maya Soetoro-Ng, the younger half-sister of President Barack Obama speak on her teaching techniques and the...

Super Sunday focuses on black student enrollment

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Leaders from the California State University system met with local churches across the state today to increase black student enrollment. Applications from blacks to the CSU have gone up 15 percent and...

Honors on display

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

Last Saturday, students most likely just wanted to sleep in, unwind and escape the pressures of the academic week. That wasn't the case for Jesus Lopez, an English major who joined more than 200 of his...

ASI presidential candidates face off

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

The Associated Students, Inc. debates drew to a close on Thursday afternoon with a final showdown between presidential candidates Roberto Torres and Mirabella Garibay. John Rogan, also a candidate, did...

Auditor’s Narrative: Sacramento County Office of Education

Julia Baum
June 9, 2009

I went to the Sacramento County Board of Education building on Tuesday, March 24. I arrived at around 1:10 p.m when I parked my car. A middle-aged gentleman wearing a red flannel shirt told me that I needed...

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