EDITORS: Full 2004 Commencement schedule attached or see links at www.FresnoStateNews.com.

The 93rd Commencement at California State University, Fresno will be held on Saturday, May 22 in its new home: the Save Mart Center on campus.

The move from Bulldog Stadium marks the end of the first academic year for the new 18,000-seat center that opened in November.

Commencement Week activities — featuring 21 different events in several locations on campus as well as two off campus — begins with the Fresno State/COS Center Celebration in Visalia on May 15 and ends with the Nursing Pinning Ceremony on May 23 at the LaRyan Center in Fresno.

In addition to the general Commencement, six other events also will move to the Save Mart Center including two of the larger celebrations: the Graduate Degree Hooding Ceremony on Friday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m.; and the Latino Commencement Celebration on Saturday, May 22 at 6 p.m.

The University’s Commencement Committee, coordinated through the Division of Student Affairs, has been working throughout the semester for the transition and will soon announce details on the various events as well as guidelines for the new venue, said Gary Nelson, commencement coordinator in the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development. The committee consists

of representatives from the various events, the Save Mart Center and other university offices involved in Commencement.

More than 4,000 students earn baccalaureate or masters degrees annually at Fresno State. About five to 15 students a year are conferred doctoral degrees in educational leadership, offered jointly with the University of California.

Students can purchase their cap and downs in the Kennel Bookstore. A general information pamphlet is available in the bookstore or online.

The full schedule of the celebrations and ceremonies held the week preceding Commencement is available through links at www.FresnoStateNews.com.

Information: (559) 278-2741 or visit http://studentaffairs.csufresno.edu/studentact/portal-events/commencement.htm.

For Immediate Release May 3, 2004

Contact: Dr. Brad Huff, Head of School, (559) 278-8263 OR

Ms. Carol Corey, Coach, (559)432-7641 OR

Ms. Gioia Frank, UHS DI Coordinator, Java uhsyahoo.com

University High School, a charter school located on the campus of California State University, Fresno, is sending a team of four students to join more than 800 teams from around the world at the Destination Imagination Global Finals to be held on May 26-29, 2004 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The University High School team is the only high school team from the Central Valley given this honor by taking First Place at the California State Destination Imagination Tournament, which was held recently in Clovis. They are one of the 32 teams of elementary, middle and high school students representing California from 12 Regions.

The UHS team members are Elizabeth Jordan, Chip Gross, John Dawson and Taylor Stevenson. Their parent volunteer coach is Carol Corey. They travel to Knoxville on May 25th, compete on May 27 and 28, and return on May 30th. The Awards Ceremony is Saturday evening, May 29.

The trip will cost approximately $6,000 for transportation and expenses at the event. Financial support from the community is appreciated and can be sent to University High School. For information call 278-8263.

The team is available by appointment for interviews or to perform.

Destination Imagination, “DI” for short, is a school and community-based problem-solving program run by volunteers that gives students the tools they need to think on their feet and work together as a team. The key to the DI program is discovering the process of creative problem-solving. DI provides opportunities for students to explore and discover unlimited creative potential through teamwork, cooperation and mutual respect. Destination Imagination helps kids develop unique and critical skills by emphasizing: Creativity Problem Solving, Teamwork, Brainstorming, Project Management, Time Management, Creative & Critical Thinking Skills, Knowledge Application Collaboration, Presentation Skills, Confidence and Research Skills.

Teams choose to solve one of five Team Challenges emphasizing structural, technical, artistic, improvisational, or performance elements. Teams also compete in an Instant Challenge, a problem to be solved on the spot on Tournament Day. These Instant Challenges spark and quickly capture the team members’ wild imaginations, teaching them to come up with creative solutions to the unexpected.

The UHS team is competing in the event titled UpBeat Improv. The team has just 30 minutes to create an improvisational performance involving previous music research and composition, the design and construction of musical instruments, and theater arts skills.

Destination Imagination is the world’s largest creative problem solving program. For 200,000 students in nearly 20 countries, Global Finals culminates a year of creative problem solving, teamwork, and innovation using technology, engineering, presentation and theatrical skills.

They Don,t Follow the Leader.

They Think Outside (and Inside) the Box.

They Can Build Anything with Wood and Duct Tape.

They are the leaders of tomorrow, and they are honing their critical thinking skills and learning to work together in teams and, most importantly, developing the confidence they need to be original thinkers.

More than 8,000 of them will be in Knoxville, Tenn., this month for Global Finals, demonstrating their solutions to the Destination Imagination Team Challenges that range from technical or mechanical to historical and theatrical. Teams from across the

United States and around the world, will spend four days in tournaments, where they will demonstrate their solutions to Challenges and participate in improvisational Challenges, which hone seat-of-the-pants critical thinking skills.

The Team Challenge program runs from September through May of each year, and as kids hone their solutions to the Challenges, they have an opportunity to present their best effort at local and regional tournaments. Fifteen to thirty teams are selected from each state or international Affiliate, and those teams are eligible to compete at the annual Global Finals event.