Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
belmontbeacon.com
Leondra Kruger Becomes Youngest Supreme Court Judge in 100 Years By JENNIFER SCHLUETER Last Monday, Leondra Kruger was unanimously approved as the youngest justice of the California Supreme Court in almost a century. The 38-year old had been nominated by Governor Jerry Brown in November, and will be sworn into office by him on January 5, along with Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who was confirmed as justice in August. Cuellar will replace retiring Justice Marvin Baxtor and Kruger will fill Justice Joyce Kennard’s seat, who had retired in April. Kruger was appointed by California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye; Attorney General Kamala Harris; and Joan Dempsey Klein, “presiding justice of the second appellate district division three,” who rated her “‘exceptionally wellqualified,’ [which is] the highest ranking a judicial candidate can receive,” according to Courthouse News. Patch.com quoted former Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Benjamin Horwich, who had worked with Kruger: “She listens, she thinks, she listens, she thinks and then she listens some
more.” Cantil-Sakauye, chair of the San Francisco-based court, “called Kruger’s credentials ‘truly stellar,’” according the website. Following an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Yale University, Kruger worked as an assistant law professor at the University of Chicago, and practiced privately. The website also reported that she then went to Washington, D.C., where she became “assistant to the U.S. solicitor general and acting principal deputy solicitor general,” and later deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Kruger was born and raised in Glendale; however, has never practiced law in California nor been a judge. Thus, Cantil-Sakauye questioned Kruger about these two lacking fields to which Kruger answered that her work with the Justice Department has exposed her to a variety of legal principles and that she hopes to continue learning and “draw on the expertise of her col-
the regions they serve. “We are delighted to once again be named to the President’s Community Service Honor Roll. When students engage in service, everyone benefits,” said Jane Close Conoley, president, CSULB. “College students who are taught to apply classroom learning to life off campus are nearly three times as
Long Beach Playhouse Will Host California State Festival
likely to be more engaged in their workplace and the surrounding community upon graduation.” The Center for Community Engagement, housed at CSULB, reports that approximately 12,109 students engaged in some form of community service in 2012-13, in-
The Long Beach Playhouse is pleased to be the host of the American Association of Community Theatre’s (AACT) 2015 California State Festival (AACTFest). AACT is a national organization dedicated to supporting and developing community theatres throughout the United States. While the Playhouse is not new to hosting Festivals (they produce a 24-Hour Theatre Festival and a New Works Festival annually), the AACTFest in February is a chance to broaden participation to groups outside the Southern California area, as well as the scope of the productions involved. It’s also the Playhouse’s first major collaboration with AACT. “AACT has many member theatres in California, but our state is one of the few in the nation that does not have a long standing tradition of State Festivals....We polled some of the outstanding theatres across the state and the Playhouse said they were game for it. We had some meetings and they wowed us with their energy, their focus and their commitment to help bring the Fest tradition to California. Working with them has been truly exciting”, Gil Savage, AACT’s Region VIII Representative, states. The AACTFest will be part of the Playhouse’s Collaborative Series, appropriate for its vision of offering outside theatre companies and other performing arts organizations the
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Leondra Kruger
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leagues on the court,” as Patch notes. According to the LA Times, Kruger told California Attorney General Kamala Harris that she was excited “to have the opportunity to come back home” to California. “It is where I was born and raised and where my family still lives,” she added. On the seven member court, Kruger will be one of three Democrats. Additionally, she will be the only African American member. Her colleague Cuellar, a law Professor at Stanford University, who Please see page 3
CSULB Recognized for Help Solving Social and Economic Problems California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) has earned a place on the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fourth time. The recognition distinguishes colleges and universities engaged in helping solve social and economic problems, achieving meaningful outcomes on behalf of
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Over $285,000 in College Scholarships and Multiple On-the-Spot Acceptances at the 1st Latino College Expo In the midst of college application season, the National College Resources Foundation (NCRF) 1st Latino College Expo was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday, December 13, 2014, where some lucky students got some big bucks to go to college. In conjunction with the event sponsors, US Army, US Bank, Toyota and La Opinion, NCRF and US Army/ROTC awarded six lucky students collectively with more than $285,000 in scholarship money for their college education. This money will be used for tuition, books, housing and monthly living expenses. UCLA graduate and US Army/ROTC Cadet Michael Aries, the recipient of a $123,202 scholarship, is planning to use this money to pay for his graduate studies at USC Keck Medical School in his pursuit of becoming an orthopedic doctor. Cadet Will Simmons was also awarded $159,250. U.S. Army Major Badillo and Captain Ortiz presented both scholarships. Other scholarship awardees were Diego Garcia from Desert Hot Springs High School, who won the NCRF scholarship for $1,500.00; Anna Lopez from Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, who won
$1,000.00 presented by General Manager Damien Mezzota of La Opinion. A’Lai’ja Moore from Firebaugh High School won $750.00 and Bree Terronez from Clovis North High School in Fresno won $500.00; both from NCRF. This inaugural event brought together a group of education recruiters and professionals knowledgeable about the application process, as well as financial-aid advisors who shared valuable information with parents and students on how to find money to attend college. Wall-to-wall students and parents flooded the LA Convention Center exhibit halls and meeting rooms to attend seminars for a chance to connect one-on-one with college representatives and career professionals who shared an array of information on booming majors, hot careers, leadership and finding money to pay for college. It was an opportunity for hundreds of students to get the 411 on how to get accepted to the college of their choice and how the DREAM ACT could help them pay for their education. There were sessions on how to prepare for college, at a time when many high school students are currently writing essays and filling out applications.
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Speaking at the Expo on the topic of Booming Careers included Rayna Plummer, Social Media Manager at CodeBlack Films; Lluvia Benitez, Accountant; Rossana Quesada, Entreprenuer; and Dr. Andrew Jones, Former Chancellor of Orange Coast College. On the topic of Hot Careers, panelist included Quincy Newell, GM/CodeBlack Films; Krystle Corrall, Marketing NBC/Telemundo; Gina Travis, Chiropractor; Dr. Jashana Johnson, Psychologist; Darin Chavez, Attorney; Yesi Ortiz, On-Air Radio Personality and Marc Reyes, Pharmaceutical Sales. Some of the college recruiters were from UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Monterey Bay, Ar-
gosy, Tuskegee, Alliant International University, CSU Long Beach, Fisk University, Mt. Sierra College, University of La Verne, Paul Quinn and Biola University to name a few. Radio Hosts, Nautica de la Cruz from 102.3 KJLH and Cynthia Salinas from Mega 96.3 hosted the scholarship presentation and after show, along with Actor Noel G. and Rapper/Actress YoYo from Yo Yo School of Hip-Hop who voted on the talent competition. Students throughout Southern California came from Serra High School, Diamond Ranch, Manual Arts, Foshay, Chino Valley, Pathways, Highland High School, Dominguez High School and many more.
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State Festival Continued from page 1
opportunity to produce in the Playhouse’s Studio Theater. The Fest fits in a schedule of rehearsals, workshops, productions, adjudication, and an evening awards banquet into an entire day. All in a day’s work for Andrew Vonderschmitt, Executive & Producing Artistic Director. “The initial difference between our regular production schedule (and AACTFest) is, obviously, time. But we have extensive experience in hosting outside companies and artists with our Collaborative Season each year. We are always up to a fast paced challenge and actually look forward to them,” says Vonderschmitt. In addition to leading the charge in managing logistics, the Playhouse holds the honor of hosting a California AACTFest at the state level for the first time in 5 years (the last CA AACTFest was in Sacramento, in 2009). The opportunity for several theatres to vie for the title of an AACTFest State winner should offer a healthy dose of competition, but more importantly, a rare chance to connect and celebrate what they all have in common: a passion for community theatre. “We’re very excited to host the AACTFest this year. Not only is it right up our alley and serves our mission, but it’s just such a fun prospect. We are going to strive to make visiting theaters feel at home, welcomed, and challenged over the course of the one day festival. This is an incredible opportunity for the Playhouse and an honor to be involved with AACT in any way we can.” Theatres interested in participating should contact Andrew at the Long Beach Playhouse. Tickets to performances are available through the Playhouse website and box office. There are also several sponsorship opportunities for local businesses and individuals interested in supporting the Fest.
New Supreme Court Justices Continued from page 1
Mariano-Florentino Cuellar at the First Annual ACS Student Conference - Photo by Brendan Cohen
also went to Harvard and Yale, will be the only Latino justice. He grew up in a border town in Mexico and, according to several sources, legally walked
across the border every day to attend school on a scholarship in Texas. After his father was granted green cards, Cuellar became a citizen in 1994.
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4 | DECEMBER 29, 2014 - JANUARY 4, 2015
FBI Investigation Says North Korea hacked Sony On Friday December 19, the FBI provided the media with an update on the status of their investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). In late November, SPE confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack that destroyed systems and stole large quantities of personal and commercial data. A group calling itself the “Guardians of Peace” claimed responsibility for the attack and subsequently issued threats against SPE, its employees, and theaters that distribute its movies. The FBI has determined that the intrusion into SPE’s network consisted of the deployment of destructive malware and the theft of proprietary information as well as employees’ personally identifiable information and confidential communications. The attacks also rendered thousands of SPE’s computers inoperable, forced SPE to take its entire computer network offline, and signifi-
cantly disrupted the company’s business operations. After discovering the intrusion into its network, SPE requested the FBI’s assistance. Since then, the FBI has been working closely with the company throughout the investigation. Sony has been a great partner in the investigation, and continues to work closely with the FBI. Sony reported this incident within hours, which is what the FBI hopes all companies will do when facing a cyber attack. Sony’s quick reporting facilitated the investigators’ ability to do their jobs, and ultimately to identify the source of these attacks. As a result of the investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions. While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes them from sharing all of this information,
their conclusion is based, in part, on the following: •Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed. For example, there were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks. •The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. Government has previously linked directly to North Korea. For example, the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack. •Separately, the tools used in the SPE attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks
and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea. “We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there. Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States. Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart. North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior. The FBI takes seriously any attempt – whether through cyber-enabled means, threats of violence, or otherwise – to undermine the economic and social prosperity of our citizens.”
CSULB Recognized for Help Solving Social and Economic Problems Continued from page 1
cluding 5,311 who were involved in academic service-learning. In total, these students logged more than 1.2 million community service hours during that time. It is also believed that roughly 800 CSULB faculty and staff were involved in some kind of community service that same year. “At Cal State Long Beach, we
are continually emphasizing our commitment to service-learning and working together with various community-based organizations in Long Beach and the surrounding area,” said Juan M. Benitez, director, Center for Community Engagement, CSULB. “Many of our students, faculty and staff are from the region and they are
strengthening their communities by engaging with their neighbors through service.” Examples of service at CSULB include students, faculty and staff hosting more than 1,000 K-12 girls through the Women In Engineering Outreach Program, as part of a national initiative to increase the number of women working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and working with Century Villages to develop job skills training programs for its homeless clients, They also helped rebuild the natural physical landscape, re-establish drainage trenches and remove non-native plants from the city’s Colorado Lagoon and participated in leadership training workshops. According to a report conducted by Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 3.1 million college students participated in 118 million service hours in 2012. Their work provided $2.5 billion
in value to communities throughout the U.S. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s (CNCS) strategic commitment to engage millions of college students in service and celebrate the critical role of higher education in strengthening communities. It has administered the award since 2006 and manages the program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the American Council on Education and Campus Compact. Established in 1993, CNCS is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its core programs — Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and the Social Innovation Fund — and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.