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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 16, 2003
Contact:
Click for Info Shirley Melikian Armbruster or Tom Uribes (559) 269-5261 or (559)
250-8459

Mary Silva Awarded

Fresno State�s
University Graduate
Medal
Photo Gallery from Event

Mary Lourdes Silva of

Laton, whose graduate
thesis is a combination of
poetry and prose that
focuses on her life as the
daughter of Portuguese
immigrants, was awarded
the University Graduate
Medal today (May 16) as
the outstanding graduate
degree student in the Class
of 2003 at California State
University, Fresno.

Silva was presented the

silver University Graduate
Medal by Dr. Vivian A.
Vidoli, Graduate Studies
dean, and a plaque by
university President John D. Welty at the Graduate Degree Hooding

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Ceremony for master�s and doctoral candidates.

Silva, who earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing with
a 3.93 GPA, is the Dean�s Graduate Medalist from the College of Arts
and Humanities. She was selected as the top graduate student from the
Dean�s Medalists of the nine academic colleges, schools and divisions.

Silva will be recognized at Fresno State�s 92nd annual Commencement

ceremonies Saturday (May 17) at 8:30 a.m. in Bulldog Stadium. The
President�s Medal honoring the top undergraduate student also will be
presented at Commencement.

The President�s Medal and the University Graduate Medal are the
highest honors given by the university to graduating bachelor�s and
graduate degree students. The medals are awarded on the basis of
academic achievement, service to the school and contributions to the
community. In addition to Silva, the other Graduate Dean�s

Medalists for 2002 are Rodrigo Krugner of Brazil, College of Agricultural

Sciences and Technology; Anna K. Hadjinlian of Fresno, Craig School of
Business; Robin Roberts of Hanford, Kremen School of Education and
Human Development; Troy A. Asher of Roseburg, Ore., College of
Engineering and Computer Science; Michael S. Newsome of Clovis,
College of Health and Human Services; Nathanael Fast of Fresno, College
of Science and Mathematics; Crystal Marie Faulconer of Fresno, College of
Social Sciences; Emily D. Campos of Selma, Division of Student Affairs.

Participating in today�s Hooding ceremony were nearly 600 master�s

degree candidates from a graduating class of approximately 680, the
largest class in Fresno State�s history. Fourteen doctoral degree
candidates also received their degrees. Doctoral degrees in educational
leadership are offered jointly by Fresno State and the University of
California, Davis.

Graduate Studies Dean Vidoli praised Silva for her achievements:

�Faculty members are unanimous in their exceptional praise of Mary�s
creative and pragmatic talents,� said Vidoli. �Her talent will be
something special to watch in the future.�

In addition to her M.F.A. degree, Silva received a Certificate of Advanced

Study in Composition. Dr. Connie Hales, co-coordinator of the M.F.A.
program, said simultaneously earning both requires a �rare student who
is equally gifted in practice and theory.�

Silva is the recipient of several awards and recognitions, including the

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Leon S. Peters Graduate Scholarship, the Graduate Fellowship Equity

Award and the California State University, Fresno Creative Nonfiction
Award.

She began her studies as a poet, but went on to explore the genre of
creative nonfiction, particularly memoir, and is skilled at both.

�Her poems are powerful and daring � often dazzling in their

imaginative leaps and unexpected language terms,� said Hales. �Her
prose is equally exciting. She never settles for the competent or even
graceful, but pushes the language to do more than expected. It�s always
an adventure to read her work � and it�s always a delight,� said Hales.

While completing her M.F.A. degree requirement, Silva also worked with
Fresno State professor Rick Hansen to pursue an extended study on
literacy in public education. Her work addresses issues in school reform
and literacy theory that are currently receiving a great deal of attention,
Hansen said, adding �The outcome of this work is very promising.�

Silva, a graduate of Laton High School, earned a bachelor�s degree in

English with a minor in music from Fresno State in 1999.

She received honorable mention for the 2002 Ernesto Trejo Prize in
poetry, and has presented numerous poetry readings of her own work.
She presented a paper, �Don�t Ask Questions � Answer Questions,�
this spring at the national meeting of the Conference of College
Composition and Communication in New York, the foremost national
conference in the field of composition. She has presented three additional
papers in her field at statewide conferences.

Silva served on the Editorial Board of �Flies, Cockroaches and Poets,� a

journal of art and literature published by the Chicano Writers and Artists
Association; as vice president of that organization; and as coordinator of
this year�s Chicano Writers and Artists Association Poetry Symposium,
held in March.

She taught English composition and poetry courses and worked as a

writing tutor at Fresno State, and led reading and writing workshops to
train tutors at McLane High School, where she is Learning Center
supervisor.

Silva plans to attend the University of California at Santa Barbara and

receive a Ph.D. in composition theory.

Also at the Hooding ceremony, Sheryl Thompson Timberlake received the

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Outstanding Thesis Award. Her thesis for the Department of Political

Science is titled �The Impact of China on California�s San Joaquin
Valley Agricultural Trade.� Timberlake is graduating with a Master of Arts
in International Relations.

Her thesis is a comprehensive analysis of trade relations and related

public policy issues, including examination of domestic public policy
regarding China�s human rights record, Most Favored Nation status, the
granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations and membership in the
World Trade Organization. Trade dispute mechanisms available to
regional agricultural producers are provided as well as insights into the
challenges and impediments in seeking trade relationships with China.
Her analysis is important to understanding why China may well become
the Valley�s largest agricultural market as well as its major competitor.

Timberlake plans to publish and disseminate her thesis. Her long-range

plans include working in the international trade arena.

Also recognized at the Hooding ceremony was Aarti Nayudu of India who
received the Phyllis Watts Eudy Memorial Award for the Outstanding
International Graduate Student.

Nayudu is graduating with a Master of Arts in Linguistics with a 4.0 GPA.

She has already produced an excellent description of a rare and
surprising linguistic finding from her research on a Bantu language
spoken in Kenya. She has been a research assistant for the CSUF
Forensic Linguistics Institute and project manager for the American
Writing Project.

She received her bachelor�s degree from the Maharaja Sayajirao

University of Baroda in India. She plans to pursue doctoral studies at the
University of Durham.

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