Blind mom follows vision, Orange County Register
Sunshine Lawson lost her sight 10 years ago, the day a would-be murderer held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.The bullet blinded her but almost miraculously left her brain undamaged. It failed to destroy her heart's deepest desire. This morning, Lawson, 34, will fulfill that desire - and also impart some hard-won wisdom to her fellow graduating classmates at California State University, Fullerton.

Dramatic arc thrills graduate, Contra Costa Times
One could say fantasy and reality vie for dominance in Frenchette Sherman's life. When the theater arts major graduated from San Francisco State last weekend, she was the top honors student from the College of Creative Arts, joining such illustrious acting alums as Danny Glover and Annette Bening.

Rape survivor finds her voice, Chico Enterprise-Record
Fay was frightened because she remembered the humiliation and rejection that followed her the first time the story got out, but she knew it was something she had to do. Now, Fay Roepcke is a 22-year-old graduating senior at Chico State University, a leading and visible member of the campus student government, and an officer in a statewide student lobbying group.

2,000 graduate from SSU, Press-Democrat
The job outlook may be uncertain for this year's college seniors, but that didn't stop nearly 2,000 new graduates from celebrating Saturday at Sonoma State University's 42nd annual commencement.

Gallo gift provides computer laboratory improvements, Turlock Journal
Modesto-based E&J Gallo Winery, the nation’s largest winemaker, on Thursday presented California State University, Stanislaus with a $100,000 check earmarked for upgrading the Computer Information Systems Department’s computer laboratory, where students are trained in the use of technology for the business world.

SFSU's popular 'sex-ed' prof honored on retirement, Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
As the architect of a groundbreaking course on human sexuality, Bernard Goldstein believed in giving college students solid facts and relevant information.

Serious About Teaching, Grads Stuck for Work, Los Angeles Times
Aspiring teacher Erica Marston started college four years ago, certain her future was set. Enrolled in Cal State Fullerton's program for students who wanted to earn a teaching credential and bachelor's degree in four years, she figured she'd have her pick of positions, that school districts would be pursuing her.

A pier unmatched, San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal Poly's Marine Science Center is using the former Unocal pier to give students a one-of-a-kind educational experience studying the ocean.

2 California Lawmakers Demand Temporary Halt to Cal State Computer Project, Chronicle of Higher Education
Two California lawmakers are asking Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the California State University System, to temporarily halt spending on a controversial project to overhaul administrative computing throughout the system.

Save Mart Center stirs competition, Fresno Bee
With the coming of Fresno State's Save Mart Center, there could be trouble between the city and the university.

Four Fresno State students produce machine that aids disabled workers, Fresno Bee
Four California State University, Fresno, engineering students have developed technology that will help up to 200 developmentally disabled workers manufacture irrigation equipment.

Up and Running, Daily Breeze
Carson's $150 million sports complex is expected to pick up recognition as it opens today with a nationally televised track event

Carson armed with inch-thick police plan, Daily Breeze
The Grateful Dead represents a touchstone of another kind for Carson residents who live around the newly christened Home Depot Center at California State University, Dominguez Hills. The band’s infamous 1990 concert at the now demolished Olympic Velodrome is used as a kind of ghost story told around the communal campfire.

Backers Bet on 2nd Tier of Sports, Los Angeles Times
As the $150-million Home Depot complex in Carson opens, stakes are high for officials and investors. For athletes, it's a dream realized.

SJSU prepares to find new chief, Oakland Tribune
The search for a new president for San Jose State University begins this month.

Poly seeks to stop Bello's use of name, San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal Poly made another attempt Thursday to stop Bello's Sporting Goods in downtown San Luis Obispo from selling clothing and other products labeled with the school's nickname.

CSUMB sports might move up, Monterey Herald
In a move that could make this one of the most important periods in the short history of CSU Monterey Bay's athletic department, a formal invitation has been given to the university to join the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

SDSU feels its way through time of change, uncertainty, San Diego Union-Tribune
There has been confusion, and things have been put off. But some important business is getting done in the San Diego State athletic department.

BSS building bid call expected soon, Eureka Times-Standard
The ideal site scenario for what has been a bitterly disputed building slated to go up on the Humboldt State University campus will soon go out to bid.

Cal breaks ground on science facility, Contra Costa Times
Looking out at the construction site that will someday be the eight-story, $162 million Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility at UC Berkeley, Gov. Gray Davis said, "If we build it, they will come."

Color cleaves UC campus, Contra Costa Times
The subject of race is hard to avoid on UC Berkeley's campus. Sometimes, it's like a downed wire in a thunderstorm whipping around Sproul Plaza.

This summer, colleges packed, Sacramento Bee
College students in the Sacramento region are heading into one of the busiest summer school sessions ever, signing up for classes in record numbers to beat tuition hikes and fee increases expected this fall.

California Colleges Prepare to Disclose Computer Intrusions, Chronicle of Higher Education
A new California law is pushing colleges in the state to re-evaluate how they collect, store, retrieve, and guard private data on their computers.

L.A. school may put aside faults to open doors, Contra Costa Times/New York Times
In the shadow of the reinvigorated downtown skyline, with its new Roman Catholic cathedral and soon-to-open Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Belmont Learning Center sits half-finished, surrounded by chain-link fences and barbed wire.

Charter Schools Choke on Rulebook, Los Angeles Times
Red tape and high costs are stifling the populist trend, discouraging breakaway educators and forcing survivors to mimic public districts.

Larger classes coming soon, Monterey Herald
Smaller elementary school classes, introduced in the 1990s as the next great education reform, may become increasingly uncommon in the coming years.

School surveys split Assembly, Sacramento Bee
California law bans children from being surveyed in school about sex, morality or religion unless their parents fill out permission slips -- but that could change soon.

Schools under fire for 'free-speech zones', CNN/AP
Free-speech zones began appearing on campuses in the 1980s as a way to allow expression without interrupting learning. But in recent years, students and activists say that limiting speech to a few designated areas is unconstitutional because it effectively bans speech everywhere else.

The Bloody Crossroads of Grammar and Politics, New York Times
Many of the locutions and usage rules that have recently been proposed in the name of social justice are as much insider codes as the arcane strictures of the grammar cultists. They're exercises in moral fastidiousness that no one really expects will catch on generally.

Dreams, Deferred, New York Times
If this is a city of aspiration, Queens College is a focal point of the American dream. Forty-four percent of the school's 12,000 undergraduates are first-generation college students, and the same percentage were born outside the United States.

Alarcon's flurry of activity raises speculation, Los Angeles Daily News
Suddenly, San Fernando Valley state Sen. Richard Alarcon seems to be everywhere: Calling for worker's compensation reforms, riding buses through neglected neighborhoods to seek more help for the poor, leading hearings into waste in the California State University's computer system.

Davis' Reelection Team Regroups to Fight Recall, Los Angeles Times
Seven months after he won reelection in what could have been the final race of his career, Gov. Gray Davis is mounting yet another statewide campaign — this time to crush a drive by Republicans to recall him from office.

GOP lawmakers abet Davis recall drive, San Francisco Chronicle
Even as Gov. Gray Davis tries to negotiate a historic budget deal with Republicans, several GOP lawmakers are actively supporting an organized recall campaign that would remove him from office.

Letters: Information Technology and Hiring at Cal State, Chronicle of Higher Education
In "'Misguided Priorities' at Cal State" (Letters to the Editor, May 2), Susan Meisenhelder, the president of the California Faculty Association, perpetuates two myths.

Farewell from the big Cougar, North County Times
University presidents can get parental about their campuses. We brag about them. We plan their future. We tell people about the many contributions the university makes to the region's cultural and economic vitality.

Bush backtracks on black-colleges pledge, USA Today
Shortly after he entered the White House, George W. Bush issued an executive order that created the President's Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Editorial: Gov. Train Wreck, Orange County Register
This could be the summer of Gray Davis' discontent. Even as a recall campaign picks up speed against the California governor, things continue to go badly for him and the state he has misgoverned:

Opposing view: Kudos to CalPERS for not pulling plug on health premiums, Sacramento Bee
The Bee chastised the CalPERS board for not supporting its own staff's recommendation to implement "regional pricing."

Editorial: Preschool that pays, Sacramento Bee
California Legislature, meet Arthur J. Reynolds. Sure, you're tied up with a few budget concerns at the moment, but when you come up for air, and can turn your attention to the future of California's children, this professor from the University of Wisconsin deserves your ear.

Editorial: Delaying the Fiscal Pain, Los Angeles Times
If Californians want to know what a real budget crisis is, they need only look to Oregon.

Are our state universities at risk?, San Diego Union-Tribune/The Economist
Students at the University of California at Berkeley will protest about almost anything related to global politics. Their militancy might be better directed closer to home. Across the UC system, research projects and libraries are low on cash, and student health services and some classes have been scaled back.

Mulish Budget Battle Unique, Los Angeles Times
While deepening budget woes have sparked spirited partisan debate in statehouses across America, California is in a class by itself in the refusal of lawmakers to transcend their partisan differences and solve the state's financial problems.

School budget a joint effort, San Francisco Chronicle
California schools have been on a roller coaster of a budget ride, but at least they have been able to actually ride the ride this year. For the first time, leaders in public education circles were allowed to sit with the governor's staff and help choose which school programs to cut or salvage in the latest version of the state budget.

A windfall hits the state, Los Angeles Daily News
An estimated $2.4 billion windfall from the feds has touched off a partisan debate in California over how best to plug the red ink flowing out of state coffers.