November 6, 2014 (San Diego) -- This week is Homecoming Week at San Diego State University. The celebration will culminate in the homecoming game on Saturday, November 8, with the Aztecs facing off against the Unversity of Idaho Vandals at Qualcomm Stadium. The event also features the KGB sky show.

Update: Our interview is now online. Listen here:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Tune in Monday at 5 p.m. to hear our interview with East County’s Amnesty International organizer Renee Altson on KNSJ 89.1 FM or streamed live at www.KNSJ.org .

By Miriam Raftery

August 29, 2014 (Santee) – At the Summit Unitarian Universalist Church in Santee, a dedicated group of Amnesty International members meet each week.  They write letters to leaders around the world on causes such as seeking freedom for jailed journalists, stopping barbaric practices such as torture and stoning women to death, and ending conflict in regions such as Gaza. The group has celebrated several recent successes, which organizer Renee Altson discusses in a radio interview with East County Magazine airing Monday, September 1st.

Sometimes, those causes hit closer to home, such as a “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” protest planned September 2^nd at 5:30 p.m. at the Metzli student union center on San Diego State University’s campus.  The protest focuses on police brutality in the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

By Stevon Marshall

June 5, 2014 (San Diego)--Some athletes from San Diego State are progressing in life outside of school--in sports such as soccer, pole vault, and baseball, with each sport having a talented athlete heading to the big leagues.

May18, 2014 (San Diego) – Last night at 9:28 p.m., three unknown male suspects robbed and assaulted a victim while he was attempting to place his backpack and skateboard into his vehicle’s trunk.   The victim resisted the theft and was kicked and punched by the suspects, who fled on foot westbound on Hardy Avenue with the victim’s property.

Listen online here from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wed. April 16: http://knsj.org/knsjpopup.html

Hot topics:

• ECM special investigative report on Sheriff response times. How safe is your community?

• Solar leader Daniel Sullivan says "absolutely" industrial wind/solar projects in our backcountry are not needed. We can produce more clean power for less money AND save our scenic areas. Find out what must change to stop this senseless devastation.

• Frank Tsimboukakis, candidate challenging State Senator Joel Anderson, takes stand against big energy projects in our region and shares his plan to eliminate tuitions at public universities and colleges in California.

• Ariele Johannsen’s Destination East County tells you about the hottest events coming up—from a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt to Lakeside's Western Days, a wine-and-rails ride through our backcountry and many others.

All this and more on this Wednesday's East County Magazine show!

You can listen online at the link above (it may take a few moments to load, after you click the play button) or on KNSJ 89.1 FM at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

By Nadin Abbott

Photos by Tom Abbott

March 26, 2013 (San Diego) A talk held yesterday at San Diego State, hosted by SDSU’s Center for Science and Media (a collaboration of the School of Journalism and Media Studies, College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts and the College of Sciences) raised important questions on how to use drones in media gathering--also demonstrating how effective drone coverage could be, as a drone whirred overhead transmitting images.

Professor Matt Waite from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, founder of the Drone Journalism Lab, brought a small drone to show it to the public. (For the record, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has shut his Lab down for the moment, as well as drone usage by the Washington Nationals and a beer company in Minnesota. The proposed use of Drones by Amazon.com to deliver goods is also not permitted under present rules.)

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2014 (San Diego) -- A San Diego State University staff member who lost a leg in Afghanistan has been honored by the San Diego Hall of Champions.  Erick McElvenny was named Challenged Athlete of the Year at the 68^th annual Salute to the Champions awards ceremony on February 13 after a year that’s included accomplishments that would be daunting for many able-bodied athletes.

SDSU News Center

January 29, 2014 (San Diego)--San Diego State junior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif./Center HS) has been named to the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. It is the second straight season that Miles made the initial 50-player list.  View: 2014 USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST

Miles (2013-14), who redshirted last year, and Erin Floros (2007) are the only Aztecs to ever be named to the pre-season watch list.

Program Includes Motets from the Florilegium Portense, Bach Motets, and Contemporary Works 

January 17, 2014 (San Diego)--Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD), the city's premier early music performance ensemble, will collaborate with the San Diego State University Chamber Choir for performances on February 7 and 8, 2014.

While Bach maintained a backbreaking schedule producing weekly cantatas for his church, the motets sung at St. Thomas were likely taken from the Florilegium Portense, two volumes of early 17th-century compositions which Bach is known to have procured for his choirs, containing the music of Hassler, Lasso, Gabrieli, and others--some of the popular works of his day. These performances will explore motets contained in the Florilegium Portense, including Bach's own motets Komm, Jesu Komm and Lobet den Herrn. In addition, contemporary works by Copland, Lauridsen, Whitacre, and Montoya are on the program.

East County educators among those testifying

By Jordan Schaffner

December 11, 2013 (San Diego)--Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (photo, left, with staff) held a public hearing on access to San Diego higher education  on November 21st in San Diego.  Highlights from the hearing included statements from educators at both private and public institutions, identifying needs to be met for local students.

Among the issues discussed including diversity, overcrowding, and a need for a new higher education campus in our region.

November 27, 2013 (San Diego) – Elizabeth Perez-Halperin, an assistant instructor in the online Professional Certificate in Green Energy Management program through San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies, was recently honored at a White House Champion of Change event as a Veteran Advancing Clean Energy and Climate Security.

View speech on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhupT9o-nxk

Read full text of speech:http://library.sdsu.edu/sites/default/files/JFK-Transcript_0.pdf

By Miriam Raftery

November 21, 2013 (San Diego) – Tomorrow marks the 50^th anniversary of that fateful day in Dallas, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.   Like so many Americans, I remember the moment when I heard the news.  I was in second grade and the teacher started crying as she broke the news.  It hit me hard, since just a few months earlier, Mom had pulled me out of class and taken me to watch the young President’s motorcade downEl Cajon Boulevard in the College area. 

He had just delivered a commencement speech on June 6, 1963 at San Diego State University’s Aztec Bowl, after being the first to receive an honorary doctoral degree through a California state university.  Kennedy told SDSU graduates, "As a nation, we have no deeper concern, no older commitment and no higher interest than a strong, sound and free system of education for all...In fulfilling this obligation to ourselves and our children, we provide for the future of our nation—and for the future of freedom." He reflected on the educated founders of our nation, the importance of an educated populace for the future, and the disparities in educational opportunities across the nation.

Aztecs announce plans for a 23,500-square-foot facility for men’s and women’s basketball.

Story by SDSU Athletics

November 14, 2013 (San Diego) -- San Diego State University President Elliot Hirshman and Athletic Director Jim Sterk announced Tuesday that plans for a 23,500-square-foot Basketball Performance Center are in design, with a plan to break ground on the project in late spring 2014.

November 2, 2013 (San Diego) – San Diego State University campus police have issued an alert regarding a suspicious incident yesterday at 1 p.m.  A man approached a female near tbe Aztec Center/Cuicacalli pedestrian bridge and asked to use her cell phone.  She twice refused and he ran away on foot.  Although a crime did not occur, this situation is consistent with the recent iPhone thefts reported to SDSU Police.

September 25, 2013 (San Diego) – Campus police have issued an alert for students following two thefts of cell phones at 3:30 this afternoon. 

In one case, the suspects approached and asked to use the victim’s cell phone. The suspects started to dial the phone and then ran off with it.  In the second case, the phone was taken by force.  The suspects fled the scene in a white or champagne colored four-door sedan, possibly a Lexus.  The victims were not injured.