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>> My name's Liz Reis.
I'm a first-year
master's student
at Sac State studying cell
and molecular biology,
and I work in Dr. Reams' lab
studying bacterial genetics.
The work that we
are interested in,
we study gene amplification
mutation, so it's kind
of exactly what it
sounds like --
when one gene or a set
of genes gets repeated.
And that repetition of genes
allows for more gene expression,
allows those cells to
be a little bit more fit
than those around them.
So we study the mechanisms
of how
that amplification
actually happens.
>> Right now, what I'm
about to do is I'm going
to aspirate out the media.
I'm doing biochemistry
research, and so we're,
what we're doing is we're
taking this plant extract called
[inaudible] and we're testing
for cytotoxicity on cells,
cancers cells, MDA-NB-231.
So I was born in the
projects of Aliso Village.
This is in East Los
Angeles, California.
And then I was raised in the
South Central Los Angeles.
I was raised in a
single-parent household.
My mom, she's, has, currently
has bipolar disorder,
and so it was difficult
for me just growing up,
and she had only had a
elementary education back
in Mexico, and it was tough
for me, but I was able
to have great mentors.
>> The Science Educational
Equity Program,
or the SEE Program, here
at Sacramento State is really
designed to help students
who have come from
disadvantaged backgrounds,
or underrepresented groups,
or may have faced challenges
in their pursuit
of their education.
So we have a lot of students who
are first-generation students --
the first in their
families to go to college.
Some even that were the first
in their families to graduate
from high school and coming into
college at Sacramento State.
And our goal is to really
increase the diversity
of students that go on
to professional school.
So becoming doctors
and dentists.
>> The Science Educational
Equity Program has been very
beneficial and helpful to me.
So I am a first-generation
college student.
My mom never went to college
and neither did my dad.
They actually went up
until middle school.
And so it was very difficult
for them to kind of guide me
and kind of tell me
about the process
because they themselves
had never done it before.
And I think coming into SEE,
it's what really helped me
with the whole process.
I knew I for sure
wanted to go into biology
when I first started, and
SEE kind of helped me,
helped guide me and
show me what it is
that I have to do
to pursue that.
>> The SEE Program has
helped me tremendously
and has totally shaped
who I am not.
As a graduate student, I
would not be standing here
if it weren't for the support of
the different programs in SEE.
So when I started working as
an undergraduate researcher,
SEE actually has a program
where undergrads can get paid
to do their research, and
I was fortunate enough
to be selected to
take part in that.
>> Hi, so I'm Rob Crawford,
and I'm an assistant
professor in biology.
I have been fortunate
to be involved
with the SEE Program here
at Sac State in two ways.
The first is as an
academic advisor
in which I help students
plan courses,
and talk about their
career paths,
and any other emotional
support they might need.
And then the second and a
little more major role is
by shepherding and overseeing a
program called the Introduction
to Scientific Research.
This program, it
provides anywhere from ten
to 15 SEE Program affiliated
students a research opportunity
during the summer.
It's a nine-to-five
experience for three weeks
in which they learn the
entire scientific method
from start to finish.
>> We're treating these with
free fatty acids that are found
in the skin, and we think
that the body, you know,
the host can actually
produce these free fatty acids
to combat the infection.
>> My name is Shaleni Singh,
and I am an undergraduate
student here
at California State
University, Sacramento,
and I am studying microbiology
and, in addition to that,
I work in a research lab that
also focuses on microbiology.
Being one of the few students
who gets this opportunity
is fantastic.
Over the last couple of years,
I had the chance to work
with Dr. Robert Crawford
here in the microbiology lab.
And the overarching theme
of our lab actually focuses
on skin infections,
predominantly
with chronic wounds,
and also with acne.
>> This program is really
important because so much
of science is about,
is forwarded
by having a diverse workforce.
So not only is it good for the
student who becomes a scientist
or a health care provider,
but it's also important that,
because students from diverse
backgrounds really help the
whole scientific endeavor
and whole medical in,
by bringing that diversity
of thought to the field.
>> So the Science Educational
Equity Program is a program
that's been on campus for 30
years now supporting students
from diverse groups to
get into the sciences
in doing either research,
or going into academics,
or even to a health field.
And to me, the SEE
Program is more
than just an academic
support program.
It's a community.
It's a family.
These are students
who are struggling
through the same things.
Me as a student in the program,
I struggled through my classes.
First-generation
college student.
Moved away from my family.
So even though I'm
from San Francisco,
I was still away from my family.
I had nobody here to actually
provide support to me.
And so if it wasn't
for the SEE Program,
I wouldn't have graduated
from Sacramento State
with my bachelor's in biology.
>> This program has been
on campus for 30 years.
I think there are very few
things that we can say have kind
of stood the test of time.
>> I thought it would be
just a club, essentially,
but it really turned into
this family environment.
There are all these
students that even now
that I'm a graduate student,
I still see these students
that I knew as an undergrad,
and I'm friends with them,
and we help each other.
It's really a community.
We're our own little,
special community,
and we help each other.
It's a really beautiful thing.
>> It's definitely
come a long way,
and I want to congratulate them
on bringing together all
these students from different,
diverse communities and
just providing us a family
because that's really
what we are.
>> Happy birthday, SEE.
Thirty years.
>> Yeah.
>> Who's older, you or me?
I don't know.
It's a mystery.
Don't let the beard fool you.
[laughs] I'm so happy to
be part of the SEE Program,
and I look forward to
continued work and opportunities
with the leaders in the
program and with the students,
first and foremost, because
they are really special.
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