In this issue…
Current News
CBU cheer team still on top, pushes toward third championship
CBU’s cheer team
The California Baptist University cheerleading team continues to fly high.
At a National Cheerleaders Association/USA camp in July, the team once again earned a gold bid in its pursuit of a third straight NCA Championship in 2015. It also earned a gold bid to the 2015 USA College Championships. The team again took first place as camp champions – Best All Around, with a score of 203; second-place Weber State University had 183 points. The team also took first place in the Game Day Run Off, which included Division I coed teams, won the Top Gun Stunt Winner for the second year in a row and eight cheerleaders were named All-American.
“This is a great start to the 2014-2015 season,” head coach Tami Fleming said. “Our seasoned veterans paired with our talented rookie class have proven, once again, that CBU cheer plans to stay on top. The hard work, dedication and skill of this new team is unmatched and I look forward to a great year with these athletes.”
The results mean the cheer team can pursue another NCA title, after winning their second in April and being undefeated for the past two seasons.
“When they won, it was very cool. It was very validating,” Fleming said of the NCA win in April. “It made it feel like the first win wasn’t just a fluke. We weren’t just lucky to be the best team in the nation. We very clearly are the best team in the nation.”
Becoming a national team takes a lot of work. Practice is usually 2-2.5 hours daily Monday through Thursday, September through April. When it’s competition time, that can increase. The practices sometimes begin with a mile run with weights. And that’s just the warm-up.
Sophomore Mara Gates said all the hard work was worth it.
“The team work and the team ethics that we had was really cool to watch,” she said. “As we developed from summertime to being this well-oiled machine by the end of the year, it was really cool to watch and be a part of.”
The first year Fleming and assistant cheer coach Jason Larkins took over as coaches, the team came up with the motto “Passion, God, Success.”
“We really try to ingrain in them, be passionate about what you do, let God be the center of all of it and success will come,” Fleming said. “And it may not always be a first-place finish, it may come in another form. But they push to be successful, and so I think that team motto has just carried them through a lot of stuff.”
The team will again push to be successful this season.
“Nobody in the history of the division has ever won it three years in a row,” Fleming said. “So obviously our goal is to win it a third year and make history.”
CBU introductory engineering course offers fun, challenges
How does one make a bridge out of spaghetti and make it strong enough to hold weight? That was just one of the many things 10 high school students learned during an introductory engineering course at California Baptist University. Engineering Innovation, a four-week summer course developed by Johns Hopkins University, was offered at 14 sites nationwide. This was the first year CBU’s Gordon and Jill Bourns College of Engineeringoffered the program.
The course covered several fields of engineering, including chemical, electrical, computer, civil and mechanical. Nine students from the Inland Empire and one from Northern California also learned about finance and ethics and practiced oral presentation and written communications.
The purpose of the course was to get the students interested in engineering, said Grace Ni, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. She and Dr. Mark Gordon, assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, co-taught the course.
“The goal of the program is mainly to inspire the young generation in engineering,” Ni said. “We let them know what engineering is about, how much fun engineering is and the different disciplines under engineering.”
The course included lectures and hands-on projects, such as designing and constructing a circuit to control a robotics car, and building a mousetrap and then writing down instructions for others to follow. Throughout, the students learned communication, how to give accurate instructions and teamwork.
The course culminated with the pasta bridges. The students learned about the strength of materials, designed a bridge on a computer and then built it. On the final day of the course, the students suspended increasing amounts of weight from the bridges until they broke. The spaghetti structures supported weights ranging from 36 to 62 pounds before collapsing.
“We want to show them engineering is really cool and you can have a lot fun, and what the essential skills are you need to grasp to be successful in the field of engineering,” Ni said.
Class brings Disney magic to CBU
Dr. Jeffrey Barnes and members of the History 401 class at Disneyland
A little bit of Disneyland’s magic came to California Baptist University during the summer semester.
Dr. Jeffrey Barnes, associate professor and dean of academic services, taught more than 20 students in History 401 – Special Topics: The History of Disneyland.
The course provided an historical review of Southern California’s prominent cultural icon. The class focused on topics such as how the park mimics and mirrors the American Dream; the park’s place in American history and culture; its influence around the globe; and Disney’s impact on the entertainment industry.
During the eight-week session, Barnes incorporated entertainment and magic through two field trips and guest speakers. Students were given the VIP treatment at Disneyland for a hands-on experience and received a private tour at Garner Holt Productions in San Bernardino, which creates animatronic figures and more. The class also had the opportunity to hear from an array of guest speakers, who covered aspects of history, biography, culture and construction.
The first guest speaker, Disney historian Sam Gennawey, author of the class’ textbook The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream, shared the beginning stages of Walt Disney’s career, Disneyland’s construction and opening day. Next, Bill Butler, creative director of Garner Holt Productions, discussed his history with both Disneyland and Garner Holt, as well as a technical history of the mechanics of auto-animatronics. Lastly, Mel McGowan, a former Disney Imagineer and president/founder of Visioneering Studios, presented Disneyland’s architecture, storytelling and theming. McGowan brought a fresh and unique faith-based perspective to Disneyland’s organization and building style. Being a strong believer in Christ-centered communities, McGowan said he viewed his role at Disney as a chance to highlight God’s glory through a form of re-creation.
Barnes summed up the class experience using a quote from Walt Disney himself: “It really is kind of fun to do the impossible.”
Family Updates
The pottery of ceramics instructor David Williams, adjunct faculty in the College of Architecture, Visual Arts and Design, is being featured at Hands Gallery in San Louis Obispo during the month of August.
Dr. Thomas Schneider
Dr. Thomas Schneider, assistant professor of English for Online and Professional Studies, presented research July 17 titled Chaucer’s Physics: Motion in The House of Fame at the New Chaucer Society Conference at the University of Iceland in Reykyavik.
Dr. Jong-Wha Bai
Dr. Jong-Wha Bai, associate professor and department chair of civil engineering, presented two papers titled Comparison between Seismic Demand Models and Incremental Dynamic Analysis for Low-Rise and Mid-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings and Seismic Fragility Estimates of Controlled High-Rise Buildings with Magnetorheological Dampers at the 10th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (10NCEE) in Anchorage, Alaska July 21-25. He also co-authored an article titled Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Tilt-Up Concrete Structures in the journal, Structure and Infrastructure Engineering: Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and Performance.
Dr. Timothy Mosteller
Dr. Timothy Mosteller, associate professor of philosophy, presented a paper titled Towards a Phenomenological Correspondence Theory of Emotions at the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotions in Lisbon, Portugal from July 18-20.
Nursing students from Taiwan with CBU nursing faculty and students
The School of Nursing hosted student nurses from Taiwan for two weeks this summer. The students were studying the American healthcare system.
Dr. Elaine Ahumada
Dr. Elaine Ahumada, chair of the department of history and government for Online and Professional Studies, was featured as the key presenter on the topic of Partnering: The 21st Century Employee Empowerment for the County of Riverside’s Fiscal and Administrative Manager’s quarterly meeting held at the Carriage House in Riverside on July 14, 2014.
Personnel Updates
