By The Associated Students Inc. Board of Control granted money to two students from the student travel fund and to one student from the student research fund Tuesday.
According to ASI Treasurer Jesse Luna, there are $7,356 remaining in the student travel fund for the academic semester.
Dorri Mang, who received the “top paper” mention in the Feminist and Women Studies Division for the National Communications Association, requested $353.35 to attend the NCA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was invited to present her research as well as participate in a panel.
“My research is on the topic of orgasms,” Mang said. “So I write about how the way we talk about orgasms is essentially heteronormative and problematic.”
According to Mang, there is already a huge issue with the way people speak about sex, not only in high school sex education but also at the college level. She noted that a big part of the way we talk about orgasms is from a male perspective.
Mang works with several schools to improve their sex education program.
“There is a huge need in talking more about sex ed, especially in high school,” said Sen. Frances Canales.
Mang was granted $354 in order to attend the conference.
Luwissa Wong, a graduate student at Long Beach State, was granted $365 from the student travel fund to attend the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in San Diego.
“If a student is going to a conference and they are not academically involved, we do cover registration or attendance fees, not travel or lodging,” said Jesse Luna, chairman of the Board of Control.
According to Luna, there are $22,000 left in the student research fund for the academic year.
Bridget Cervelli, a formerly incarcerated graduate student, requested $1,000 from the student research fund to conduct research on formerly incarcerated students.
“I am going to be focusing on women students in particular,” Cervelli said. “I will be researching how peer groups for and by formerly incarcerated students aid in identity repair in higher education.”
According to Cervelli, most criminological studies focus exclusively on criminal desistance and higher education.
“I want to take a more sociological approach to looking at reentry [to society] and looking at the process of identity repair,” she said.
Identity repair is the ability to reframe the identity a former criminal is given by society as a part of their past and not a shameful secret, Cervelli said. According to her, most criminological research about reentry is about men, so she wants to shift her focus to women.
“I think this is really important and I am glad that you’re taking the time to do the research on this,” ASI Vice President Leen Almahdi said.
Cervelli was granted $1,000 to conduct her research.
