Voice of The National Hispanic University Students and Community
Voz de los estudiantes de la Universidad Nacional Hispana y su Comunidad

SPRING / FALL 2004 - PRIMAVERA / OTOÑO DEL 2004

Founding Editors Michelle Pelayo Jeffrey Villarreal Announcements Editor Alicia Paez Editorial Staff Karina Avalos Syeda Tasneem Carlos Yupanqui Advisory Board Nancy Sue Brink, Adjunct Faculty Adriana Ayala, NHU Faculty, Liberal Studies Michael Mooney, NHU Faculty, Liberal Studies

Michelle Pelayo, Founding Editor

Michelle Pelayo is a Liberal Studies major whose relationship with the NHU dates back to 1999. She is the first in her family to go to college.  Michelle is a Media Unit Intern and will graduate this year. She plans to attend a graduate program in Marine Biology. Michelle is dedicated to making a difference to her community and neighborhood by advocates the importance of education and equal opportunity. Michelle is an active member of various organizations on campus, including SGA and LULAC. She is an intern for the Institute for Non-violence and Conflict Resolution. She is the Deputy Youth Director of LULAC for California. She is send by her 9-year-old niece as “most creative person.”

Jeffrey Villarreal, Founding Editor

Jeffrey D. M. Villarreal was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. He has five brothers and six sisters, thirty-one nieces and nephews, and thirteen grand-nieces and -nephews. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and a Liberal Studies Major. He will graduate in the Spring of 2004. His interests include dancing El Tacuachito (Tejano Style), photography and spending time with his two daughters, Stephanie and Kiersten. He plans to earn a postgraduate degree in Southwest History. He is a founding member of the Media Unit, member of SGA, LULAC, a volunteer with the NHU Book Store, and assistant coach of the LCPA Lady Eagles softball team.

Alicia Paez, Announcements Editor

Alicia Paez is a bright enthusiastic young mujer who hails from Mexico City. She is currently pursuing her CS degree at NHU and is a sophomore. Alicia is also an International student and enjoys traveling a lot. Alicia is passionate about art and has an amazing collection of her own work. She works best with music, books, and paints, and is an ardent admirer of the Mexican culture.

Alicia believes in a strong student voice, free expression of opinion and thoughts and receives critiques of her work and ideas. She finds the Media Unit to be the perfect platform to do so, which will enable her to grow as a person and an artist.

Alicia enjoys the diversity and creativity at NHU and the exposure it offers. She is the Announcements Editor for Abriendo Fronteras. Her fluency with Spanish makes her a primary translator for articles as well as writing in Spanish.

Crecer como persona en un ambiente lleno de culturas y etnicidades como NHU nos hace respetar, aceptar y entender la gran diversidad de culturas que nos rodean, asi como deleitarnos de tantas ideas, tradiciones, valores y opinions diferentes.  

Karina Avalos, Editorial Staff

Karina Avalos has attended The National Hispanic University since graduating from James Lick High School in 2002. Now a sophomore, she is working toward finishing her general education requirements, to pursue an English degree. Avalos has enjoyed and grown from the supportive and committed learning environment provided at The National Hispanic University.

As an active member of the NHU community, she is the Public Relations Officer for the LULAC, a founding member of the NHU Philosophy Club-Symposium and a volunteer for the Media Unit.

Her vision for Abriendo Fronteras is first, that retrieving and providing information to the NHU community motivates them to seek information on their own. Technology, as proved by the launching of this online magazine, has made an enormous difference to how quickly information can be retrieved.

Second, sharing information amongst the community is essential to its progress, considering it gives heed to achievements made and of aspects to be improved upon. Using information from Abriendo Fronteras, Avalos believes taking note of all aspects of communication could in turn lead to the improvement and distribution of information so it is not concentrated solely in one area.

Finally, the sharing of information, in connection to Abriendo Fronteras, highly depends on the students -- what their vision is. Equally important are their opinions and reflections about their surroundings, not just of NHU, but also the global community. In this case, Avalos would like to be motivated and inspired by the numerous perspectives of today’s NHU students, at an institution that started with only thirteen student voices.

Syeda Tasneem, Editorial Staff

Syeda Tasneem is an International student from the Middle East, where she has an extraordinary family who waits for her call everyday at 3 am PST. She is presently a volunteer for the Media Unit, where she is thrilled to play with equipment. Tasneem is a pessimist who likes to sketch faces and figures with stars. Inquisitiveness has landed Syeda in various groups and projects around the NHU campus, like the Symposium and LULAC. Tasneem likes the taste of words and papyrus and hence cannot stop haunting the library and her professor’s bookshelves.

Carlos Yupanqui, Editorial Staff

Carlos joined the NHU community in August of 2003 to work towards his first Bachelors degree.  Having developed an interest in computers as early as elementary school, along with a few years of experience in the Information Technology field, it is no surprise that he is in NHU’s Computer Science curriculum.

Not only is Carlos involved with CS Department projects at NHU, but he is also an active member of the NHU Symposium (Philosophy Club), captain of the Symposium Ethics Bowl team, as well as a volunteer for NHU’s online magazine.

Carlos was born in Talara, Peru in 1978 and has lived in the SF Bay Area since he moved to the states at the age of 3.