Cal State Student Receives Award

Ventura resident Lawrence Johnson received the 2000 Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement on Wednesday from Cal State University’s governing board.

Johnson, president of the Associated Students organization at the Ventura County campus of Cal State Northridge, was among five students from the 23-campus state college system to receive the award, one of the most prestigious handed out by CSU trustees.

The award provides $3,000 scholarships to CSU students who demonstrate financial need and show superior academic performance, community service and personal accomplishments.

“These students are truly outstanding,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a prepared statement. “They have overcome tremendous challenges, managed to go forward with their education and demonstrated remarkable academic performance.”

Johnson, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1989 motorcycle accident, worked last year to increase the budget from $5,000 to $54,000 for the student body at the off-campus center, in operation near Camarillo at what will be the future home of Cal State Channel Islands.

About $30,000 went to establish and operate an innovative voucher program to help students--many of whom are working parents--pay for child care.

Johnson, who received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the satellite campus, is now enrolled in CSUN’s master’s program to become a college guidance counselor.

In other action, the CSU governing board gave final approval to a blueprint for development at the Channel Island campus, a master plan designed to guide creation of a range of income-generating ventures needed to expand the campus over the next 25 years.