When Dozoretz died two years ago, she bequeathed more than $65,000 for the creation of a scholarship endowment at her alma mater. The scholarship, which was established in the memory of Dozoretz and her parents, Eileen and Ralph Dozoretz, will support an aspiring artist, actor or creative writer.

Linda Dozoretz and her dog Sweetie. Photo courtesy of Lynn Weiss.

The first Linda Dozoretz Scholarship will be awarded in fall 2013 to a student majoring in art, cinema and television arts, communication studies, journalism, music or theater in CSUN’s Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

“These kinds of resources are particularly important to our students in this current environment,” said William Watkins, CSUN’s vice president for student affairs. “One of the most useful ways alumni can support our students is through the gift of scholarship. An endowment such as this will support our students for years to come, and serves as a living legacy of the alumnae who created it.”

Lynn Weiss, director of communications for USA Network and a close friend of Linda Dozoretz, said the scholarship is a fitting tribute to her friend.

“Linda was one of the most generous individuals I knew,” Weiss said. “She truly cared about people and always made sure to take care of others. This donation by Linda to CSUN is a perfect example of her giving nature and her belief in helping young people achive their goals.”

The Linda Dozoretz Scholarship will be awarded to a third- or fourth-year student in financial need with a minimum GPA of 2.8 and who has contributed time and/or talent to a nonprofit organization or an advocacy group.

Eileen Dozoretz was an avid amateur painter who took up art in her adult years. Ralph Dozoretz was a lifelong skilled craftsman who made a living in restorative woodworking.

Linda Dozoretz, a native Los Angeleno, graduated from what was then San Fernando Valley State College in 1971 with a degree in English. While she was in college, she took a part-time job for a publicity agency and quickly discovered that public relations was the career for her.

Over the years, she worked for such agencies as Ruder-Finn and Guttman & Pam. Dozoretz spent her longest time with Rogers & Cowen, where she was president of four divisions and reported to both Warren Cowan and Henry Rogers. While at Rogers & Cowen, she helped established the book, advertising and special project divisions.

Friends said Dozoretz, a successful publicist, never stopped marveling at the “incredible life experiences” her career provided. Her long-time clients included Academy Award- and Grammy-winning composer Burt Bacharach, Martina Navratilova, Rosemary Clooney, Music Theatre International, the American Film Institute and Doris Day. Dozoretz served as executive director of the nonprofit Doris Day Animal Foundation.

Beginning in the 1980s, Dozoretz worked on crisis public relations campaigns for hundreds of celebrities, entertainment industry productions, companies and nonprofits. At the time of her passing, Dozoretz was teaching a class on public relations for nonprofit organizations at UCLA Extension.

For more information about the endowment or to make a contribution, contact Jerry De Felice, director of development for student affairs, at (818) 677-3935 or jd@csun.edu.

California State University, Northridge is a regionally focused, nationally recognized university serving more than 36,000 full- and part-time students in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. Founded in 1958, Cal State Northridge is among the largest universities in the nation and is ranked among the top universities for bachelor’s degrees awarded to minority students. It has nine colleges and more than 2,000 faculty members who teach courses leading to bachelor’s degrees in 69 disciplines, master’s degrees in 58 fields and doctorates in education and physical therapy, as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Continuously evolving and changing to meet the needs of California and the nation at large, the university is home to dozens of acclaimed programs where students gain valuable hands-on experience working alongside faculty and industry professionals, whether in the sciences, health care and engineering or education, political science, the arts and the social sciences.

California State University, Fresno President John Welty, longtime education activist Molly Munger and Lisa Snell of the Reason Foundation are among those taking part in the discussion scheduled to take place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

“The forum will look at the pros and cons of two propositions on the November 2012 ballot that would increase taxes in California,” said CSUN math professor Carol Shubin, one of the event’s organizers.

Proposition 30 is Governor Brown’s plan to raise sales and income taxes to address California’s budget deficit. The proposition honors his promise not to raise taxes without putting the matter to a vote. If Proposition 30 does not pass, Brown’s plan to cut state funding, which includes drastic cuts to education, automatically goes into effect. Welty is a proponent of Prop. 30

Proposition 38, written and funded by Munger, increases the state income tax to augment spending in the state, including childhood education, as well as pay down the state debt.

Snell, who opposes both measures, is concerned about the negative effect higher tax rates would have on investment, business activity and job creation in the state. Opponents of the initiatives have suggested that state officials deal with California’s budget deficit by reordering spending priorities and cutting spending.

If neither proposition passes, billions of dollars will be cut from the state budget, particularly from K-12 schools. The CSU stands to lose $250 million if Proposition 30 fails. If Proposition 30 passes, the CSU will have to return the 2012-2013 nine percent tuition increase and promise not to raise tuition in 2013-2014.

The evening’s discussion will be moderated by attorney Howard Miller, a partner at Girardi Keese in Los Angeles, former president of the State Bar of California, former chief operating officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1999 to 2000 and past president of the Los Angeles Board of Education from 1977 to 1979.

The forum is being sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, CSUN’s Bookstein Institute for Higher Education in Taxation, the Department of Political Science, the Delmar T. Oviatt Library and the Tseng College of Extended Learning.

For more information about the forum, call (818) 677-5005 or visit the website http://tsengcollege.csun.edu/newsandevents/taxinitiatives/.

Liu Bolin, Hiding in the City No.28, 2006

Bolin’s photographs and sculptures explore the interaction of art and society in contemporary China and the complex relationship between individuals and their environment. Works included in this exhibition focus on Liu’s observation and comment on the political, economic and social environment that has shaped the way Chinese people perceive themselves in a rapidly changing contemporary society. They also reveal the tension between individuals and society as a whole, a topic that resonates worldwide.

The Bolin exhibit is curated by CSUN art professor Meiqin Wang. The Bolin exhibit is running consecutively with the CSUN Faculty Art Exhibition.

“We’re trying to give a full spectrum of the art department,” said Jim Sweeters, Art Galleries director, adding that this includes showing off works from not only the art department’s faculty but also collections within the department.

The Bolin exhibition runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 15. A reception celebrating the opening is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 8. A special gallery lecture on the exhibition will take place Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 10 a.m.

For more information, contact the CSUN Art Galleries at (818) 677-2156 or visit its website at www.csun.edu/artgalleries.

Cal State Northridge’s Art Galleries are located on Plummer Street east of Etiwanda Avenue.

Brin will give a talk and sign copies of his books, which will be available for purchase, at the exhibit’s opening reception scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library located in the heart of the university’s campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

“Fantastic & Strange: Reflections of Self in Science Fiction Literature” features a collection of rare books, images and select artifacts that help to elucidate the complex, eerie and often prophetic themes in this diverse genre.

“Whether questioning our confidence that humanity is capable of coping with the problems of science and technology, or examining faith and belief versus evidence, science fiction literature has been a space in which we are free to imagine and explore,” said Special Collections and Archives Librarian Ellen Jarosz, the exhibit’s curator.

The show, sponsored by the Friends of the Oviatt Library, will continue in the C.K. and Teresa Tseng Gallery on the second floor of the library through July 26, 2013. The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library hours. Parking on campus is $6.

For more information about the opening event or the exhibit, please call (818) 677-2638. Persons with disabilities needing assistance and deaf and hard-of-hearing persons needing interpreters, please call the above number in advance for arrangements.

For more information about the library or its hours, visit its website http://library.csun.edu/ or call (818) 677- 2285.

Cal State Northridge’s Oviatt Library has more than 1.4 million volumes. It also subscribes to nearly 53,000 online journals, more than 2,300 print journals, more than 200 online databases and nearly 275,000 eBooks. It has an extensive audio and video collection, numbering nearly 18,000. The library’s online resources are heavily used, with almost 13 million visits to its Web pages and databases annually; and a yearly gate count of more than 1.6 million patrons. It also has an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, documents, photographs, artifacts and other archival materials. The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley.

“Faculty Exhibition, In Two Parts” runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 15, and from Sept. 22 to Oct. 13 in the galleries located at the north end of campus on Plummer Street (North University Drive) east of Etiwanda Avenue (West University Drive). The opening reception is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 8.

“We are trying to give a full spectrum of the art department,” said Jim Sweeters, Art Galleries director. “From the studio arts alone we have painters, illustrators, a graphic designer, a print maker and an animator.”

Splitting of the exhibition is unique, as most shows run for seven weeks. But with 11 artists, Sweeters wanted to offer them more space and equal showing time.

“The goal here is to see what faculty are doing here beyond teaching,” said Sweeters.

Part One features work by Samantha Fields, Edward Alfano, Patsy Cox, Paula Diarco and Joy von Wolffersdorff. Part Two features work by Mark Farquhar, Jim Kelley, Lesley Krane, Laurel Long, Michelle Rozic and Christian Tedeschi.

Samantha Fields’ work will be displayed during the first show. Her latest work, “Be Careful What you Wish For”, was culled from more than five years of archives of “failed” images, those where the camera did not pick up what she intended due to heat, water or movement, and those where she is in the scene rather than behind the camera. This marks a distinct shift in point of view from observational to experiential.

The work of children’s book artist Laurel Long will be in the second showing. Long is a graduate of Syracuse University with a master’s degree in fine arts. She has illustrated many children’s books, including “The Mightiest Heart” by Lynn Cullen and “The Magic Nesting Doll” by Jacqueline K. Ogburn, which was awarded the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, and American Bookseller’s Association’s Kids’ Pick of the Lists. On display will be illustrations from a variety of children’s picture books.

Long said she hopes the exhibition will offer insight into the people who teach at Cal State Northridge.

“I think students want to know what their professors do artistically and professionally in addition to teaching,” said Long.

Special gallery lectures on the exhibition will take place Monday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. and Monday, Sept 24, at 10 a.m. A closing reception is scheduled to take place on Oct. 13 from 4 to 7 p.m.

For more information, contact the CSUN Art Galleries at (818) 677-2156 or visit their website at www.csun.edu/artgalleries.

California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison and Central China Normal University President Zongkai Yang signed an agreement that will enhance the intercultural understanding and promote collaboration between CSUN and Chinese scholars and students. Photo by Lee Choo

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, the presidents signed a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines an alliance between the two institutions to promote the academic and cultural exchange of faculty and students through joint teaching, research, creative projects, visiting professor opportunities and other projects.

“This is very important and significant to us,” said President Harrison. “The agreement represents opportunities for our faculty and students for cultural exchanges where both universities benefit and learn from each other’s programs. I look forward to strengthening our relationships.”

Central China Normal University becomes one of more than 40 “sister” relationships Cal State Northridge has with Chinese universities and government entities. CCNU is a “key” normal university directly administered by the Chinese National Ministry of Education. It is located in Wuhan, a major hub of transportation. It ranks No. 3 in the number of higher education institutions in China and No. 1 in the country in the number of college students.

CCNU has 24 schools and more than 60 institutions or research centers. It has made notable achievements in scientific research. The university’s teaching staffs have been entrusted with many important scientific research projects, including the National Research Center on E-Learning, for which Yang is an expert.

“I think that CSUN and CCNU share a lot in common, especially in the disciplines, and we share a solid foundation in teacher preparation,” said Yang through an interpreter.

Consul Zhunmin Chen, director of the education office of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles, said the MOU will help strengthen not only the links between CSUN and CCNU but also the relationship between the U.S. and China.

The agreement calls on each institution to consider the admission of each other’s undergraduate and graduate students as long as the students satisfy admission requirements and meet the deadlines of the accepting institution. The admission requirements include a provision that the students pass an approved language proficiency exam prior to admission.

Individual colleges at both universities may enter into additional academic program agreements.

California State University, Northridge is a regionally focused, nationally recognized university serving more than 35,600 full- and part-time students in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest universities in the nation and is ranked among the top universities for bachelor’s degrees awarded to minority students. It has nine colleges and more than 2,000 faculty members who teach courses leading to bachelor’s degrees in 69 disciplines, master’s degrees in 58 fields and doctorates in education and physical therapy, as well as 28 teaching credential programs. The university is home to dozens of acclaimed programs where students gain valuable hands-on experience working alongside faculty and industry professionals.

Hoping to address that lack of education, California State University, Northridge officials are hosting a lecture on Thursday, Sept. 13, on America’s Sikh community and its vulnerability to bias crimes.

Gurinder Singh Mann

Sikh scholar Gurinder Singh Mann, currently the Kundan Kaur Kapany Professor of Sikh Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will present “From Stockton, California to Oak Creek, Wisconsin: A Sikh Century in the United States” from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Northridge Center of the University Student Union on the east side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

“The massacre that took place in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin a few weeks ago points to a need for a heightened awareness of just who the Sikhs are and why they have been the victims of violence in America,” said religious studies professor Phyllis K. Herman, coordinator of CSUN’s Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Program and an organizer of the Sept. 13 event.

Six Sikhs were killed and three others were injured when a gunman with ties to a white supremacist group opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., on Aug. 5. The gunman also shot an Oak Creek police officer before killing himself.

Mann is expected to discuss the history of Sikhs in the United States and why they are targets for bias crimes.

Mann has a master’s degree in English from Union Christian College in Batala, Punjab, India; a master’s in English from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England; a master’s in theological studies form Harvard University and a doctorate in religion from Columbia University.

His research and teaching interests range from the formation of Sikh canon, religion and society in the Punjab to the Sikh community in the United States.

For more information about the lecture, contact Herman at phyllis.k.herman@csun.edu or call CSUN’s Department of Religious Studies at (818) 677-3392.

What: Congressman Brad Sherman and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander will join California State University, Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison and other university officials as they celebrate the addition of a new transit station to the Northridge campus.

The new transit station will serve university students, staff, faculty and the community. At the moment, four bus lines run out of the station:  Metro bus lines 167 (Plummer Street) and 741 (Reseda Rapid), Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s (ATVA) 787 Express and the CSUN Metrolink Shuttle. Transit and university officials said they hope to add more lines in the future. Construction of the new station cost approximately $490,000, with most of the funding coming from a grant from Federal Transit Administration.

Hundreds of university students, faculty and staff members commute to the campus using Metro bus lines, Metrolink trains and AVTA during the academic year.

Where: CSUN Transit Station
Vincennes and West University Drive on the
California State University, Northridge campus
18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330

When: Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012 from 2 to 2:30 p.m.

Who: CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison
Congressman Brad Sherman
Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander
Vance Peterson, CSUN’s vice president for university advancement

Media Contacts: Hailey Graves or Carmen Ramos Chandler, CSUN Marketing and Communications, (818) 677-2130

The new law, which went into effect July 1, requires insurers in California to cover medically necessary behavioral intervention services for individuals with autism.

“People have a lot of questions about SB 946 and how it will be implemented,” said Victoria Berrey, program manager of CSUN’s Family Focus Resource and Empowerment Center. “We hope that these workshops will help families and the professionals that work with them understand the law and how it works.”

Among those taking part in the workshops will be Fran Goldfarb of USC’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Her work has been adopted by the Senate’s Select Committee on Autism as a resource for parents and professionals. Also taking part will be representatives from the North Los Angeles County Regional Center, which provides support and services to individuals with developmental disabilities, who will answer questions about how SB 946 is being implemented in the area.

The first workshop is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Sept. 4, from 9–10:30 a.m. in the conference room of the Regional Center’s Santa Clarita offices at 28470 Avenue Stanford. To RSVP for that workshop, call (661) 294-9715.

The second workshop is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m.to  noon at the conference room of the Regional Center’s Lancaster offices at 43210 Gingham Ave. To RSVP for that workshop, call (661) 945-9598.

The final workshop will be held on Thursday, Oct. 4, from 6–8 p.m. in Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander’s Office at 9207 Oakdale Ave. in Chatsworth. To RSVP for that workshop, call (818) 677-6852.

The same information will be presented at all three workshops.

For additional information or questions, call the Family Focus Resource and Empowerment Center at (818) 677-6854 or visit its website at www.csunfamilyfocus.com.

The Family Focus Resource Center (FFRC), housed in Cal State Northridge’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education, is an information, referral, support and education organization serving families of infants at-risk for developmental delays, children and adults with developmental disabilities, and professionals that care for them in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

The FFRC’s staff works with CSUN faculty and students to promote awareness in the community and education system of children and adults with special needs. The center collaborates with the North Los Angeles County Regional Center for the Developmentally Disabled, Los Angeles Unified School District and the Special Education Local Planning Area of the Santa Clarita Valley to provide timely referrals for assessments or resources.

From left, Steven Spielberg and John Travolta at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual luncheon where CSUN received $50,000. Photo courtesy of Nate Thomas.

The presentation was made during the association’s star-studded annual luncheon earlier this month in Beverly Hills. The $50,000 grant to CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts will be used for fellowships for students working on their senior film projects.

Cinema and television art professor Nate Thomas, head of CSUN’s film option, said the university welcomes the association’s support.

“The association’s grants and fellowships to the film program at CSUN have literally made the difference between mere artistic aspiration and actual fulfillment of dreams,” he said. “It gave out more than $1.2 million, less than the $1.5 million given out last year. This means some grantees got less, and some were not funded. An HFPA trustee told me they love the kind of work coming out of the film program here and funded us at the same level as last year.”

Thomas said the funding makes all the difference for students in CSUN’s film program.

“Our students are working class and every financial gift helps them move closer to realizing their dreams,” he said. “The association understands that, and that’s why their grant means so much to us.”

At the event, the association awarded more than $1.2 million to film schools and nonprofit organizations. Among the other institutions receiving grants were the American Film Institute, California Institute for the Arts, Columbia University, UCLA and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.

“Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association always look forward to our annual summer luncheon,” said association trustee and former president Philip Berk. “Not only do we celebrate the installation of the organization’s new officers and board members, we take pride in donating over $1 million in charitable contributions to many outstanding film-related charities and educational institutions.”

Thomas said the luncheon presents an opportunity for CSUN officials to get real feedback from industry leaders.

“You know you’re on the radar,” said Thomas, “when people at the luncheon like ‘Boyz-n-the Hood’ director John Singleton approaches you and says ‘I’m hearing a lot of good things around town about the film program at CSUN. Keep up the good work.”

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of international journalists who report on the entertainment industry. It hosts the Golden Globes each year, and awarded more than $10.5 million in charitable donations in the past 15 years.

CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts’ relationship with the association goes back 15years. In addition to the association’s support of senior film projects and the university’s annual senior film showcase, CSUN students also edit in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Senior Film Edit Suite and work on sound design in a state-of-the-art sound mix facility made possible by a grant from the association.