CSUN RECOGNIZES HONORS GRADUATES.

Byline: Ryan Oliver Staff Writer

California State University, Northridge, began its weeklong series of graduation events Tuesday night with an honors convocation recognizing the top students in its largest class ever.

A record 7,037 undergraduate and 1,223 graduate students in 63 fields will receive their diplomas by week's end.

The honors convocation recognized graduate students with grade-point averages of at least 3.885 and undergraduates with at least 3.5.

Undergraduates with a 3.0 and above with significant accomplishments in other areas also were honored.

Former General Mills executive Vincent Barabba was the convocation's keynote speaker, and he told students about the value of making mistakes.

``It's better you do a right thing wrong, as long as you learn from it, than doing a wrong thing right,'' Barabba told the outdoor gathering at CSUN's University Club. ``There's nothing learned by doing something right because you're doing something you already knew.''

Barabba, a 1962 marketing graduate of CSUN - then San Fernando Valley State College - said the current corporate environment of punishing failure acts as a disincentive for employees to come up with risky ideas.

Terry Jacobs of Canyon Country said the ceremony hit the right note for her accomplishments. The 50-year-old liberal-studies graduate said she returned to college in 2000 after she was laid off from her job as a medical transcriptionist.

She hopes to be a special-education teacher after obtaining her teacher's certification.

``I decided to take my $4,000 severance and go back to school,'' Jacobs said. ``I worked very hard to be honored this way.''

Kiana Keyvanjah, 22, of Calabasas was graduating with her bachelor's in cellular molecular biology and said she planned to accept a job offer from biotech giant Amgen.

But not all graduates fared so well. Many said the poor economy was hampering their ability to find work in their fields.

Brian Scott of Canoga Park is graduating with his bachelor's in English, but he plans to return to CSUN next year to get his master's degree because of the job market.

``It's really difficult to get a job right now in any humanities field,'' said Scott, 23. ``I was looking for something in editing, but I found out that's very competitive right now. I'd have to do internships for a few years before I could get a decent-paying job.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Faculty members head for the University Club at California State University, Northridge.

(2) Tiffany Lovett of Brentwood plants a kiss on her husband, Bob Lovett, after she receives a master's degree at CSUN.

(3) CSUN President Jolene Koester fans herself while listening to keynote speaker Vincent Barabba.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer