Joe Mazzaferro, Sacramento native and jazz educator, started the idea for an open-jam session in 2007. Originally, the night was held at Capitol Garage Grill where a solid group of about fifteen students attended the session. Many of the original group graduated and the Capitol Garage venue did not extend support when numbers decreased. Instead, the jam moved to a more inviting atmosphere at the Naked Lounge downtown. ‘”The Naked Lounge has a more intimate, club vibe. They want to support what we are trying to do,” Mazzaferro said. The new location better supports the original purpose for the session. “It is a steady place to go play. People look forward to hanging out with the other mus

AmeriCorps Week is March 10th-18th this year.  We honor the hard work of service Corps members in our communities.  I asked local AmeriCorps Volunteers in Services to America (VISTA) members to write about their experience doing a year of service building capacity and fighting poverty at local non-profit agencies.  Below Deborah Elliot shares her story of service as AmeriCorps VISTA at The GreenHouse. For more information about AmeriCorp programs go to http://www.americorps.gov  or check out my SacPress article from March 9th titled "AmeriCorps Works".   Deborah's Story: I am a middle child of seven children. Because I grew up in a large family, I didn’t grow up with a lot of things. We

“Take your time to shine!” encouraged the band evaluator. The shy saxophone player nodded and jumped back into her jazz solo. Constructive feedback and encouragement were the focus of Saturday’s Traditional Jazz Youth Band Festival held at California State University, Sacramento. The event brought elementary school through college level jazz players together for a day of performances, evaluation by professional musicians and educators, clinics and opportunities to jam with the pros. Approximately 200 youth musicians in 30 bands filled the music building with the lively sounds of traditional jazz. Band names were as improvisational and free as the jazz form they play. “Stinky Cheese Hobo

The Sacramento Art History Consortium (SAHC) opened in December the exhibition “Latin American Photography: The Realities of Poverty and Social Identity.” After a two-year effort SAHC has brought together the work of 13 international photographers who have demonstrated a true commitment to Latin America. Showing now in Sacramento State University Library Gallery, the work of renowned photojournalists such as Joaquin Sarmiento, Jeronimo Arteaga, and Jan Sochor are being exhibited to engage audiences in the visual discussion about poverty and social identity. The exhibition features photographs that convey the situation of a region that has been subjected to years of political and economic

This is isn’t your parents’ networking event. Since 2006, Twitter has taken the world by storm. Ballroom 3 in University Union on the campus of California State University, Sacramento was the site of the first-recorded Northern California colligate tweetup on Wednesday night. Alejandro Reyes (@alejandroreyes), a local social media guru recently said, “Social media done right won’t take away from the live interaction, it should enhance it.” This was part of the idea behind organizing the Sacramento State Tweetup (@sacstatetweetup). “I believe that using social media for college students is a great way for them to get hired and make themselves known to the business community,” said Blake M

Disappointment and frustration were the only feelings that came to mind when registering for classes this year. December 1, the first day I could begin enrolling, remained the chaotic race and hunt for available classes it has been every year. As fourth-year students, we generally (and understandably) have high expectations that we can get into the classes we need to graduate. In prior semesters, those classes seemed to fill up days before we ever had the chance to enroll. This semester, we won’t even have the “opportunity” to be waitlisted for many of these classes – as they are not being offered this semester (and likely the next.) I realize Sacramento State University is not the on

Sacramento State hosted the 58th annual Causeway Classic football game, its rivalry game against UC Davis Saturday at Hornet Stadium. The Hornets were hoping to win its third Causeway Classic game in four years, but unfortunately the Aggies did not let that happen as Davis defeated Sac State 23-19. Sac State did not score until the second quarter when freshman defensive lineman Ben Cowger sacked Davis quarterback Randy Wright, causing Wright to fumble the ball into Davis’ end zone allowing Cowger to recover the ball for a Hornet touchdown. Davis however would answer back with a touchdown of its own when freshman running back Austin Edmondson rushed to the end zone from the 8-yard line

     Photo essay by Dan ward Today on the Sacramento State campus two buildings were caught on fire. The first building was Mendocino hall. The building recorded the fire to start around 2:58pm. The fire took place on the 4th floor. Reports show that it started in a chair and the faculty and students were to be evacuated quickly. A professor and floor Marshall Matthew Mills helped a good majority of the students and faculty evacuate the premises while the fire engines arrived at the scene. There were no injuries however was student was caught in the fire but was quickly rescued. Shortly followed by the first fire another fire was broke out in Mariposa hall. The fire started from the int

The Sacramento Press Club hosted its second luncheon of the month Tuesday with special guest Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, National Public Radio’s foreign correspondent – currently based in Cairo, Egypt – who shared her experiences with the challenges and the violence many journalists face overseas. The Sacramento Press Club is a nonprofit organization that lends itself to informing its members and the public through monthly luncheons that feature reporters and newsmakers from around the country and provides scholarships to journalism students in California. The renowned journalist, who currently covers the Arab world from North Africa to the Middle East, shared some of her experiences in repo

Editor's Note: More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries, ranging in age from 35 to 101, are competing in the 19th World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex through July 17. This marks the first time in 16 years that the biennial event has been held in the United States. Click here for a complete list of each day's results from the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For more info on the World Master's Athletics Championships, click here.

Editor's Note: More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries, ranging in age from 35 to 101, are competing in the 19th World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex through July 17. This marks the first time in 16 years that the biennial event has been held in the United States. Click here for a complete list of each day's results from the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For more info on the World Master's Athletics Championships, click here.

Editor's Note: More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries, ranging in age from 35 to 101, are competing in the 19th World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex through July 17. This marks the first time in 16 years that the biennial event has been held in the United States. Click here for a complete list of each day's results from the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For more info on the World Master's Athletics Championships, click here.

Editor's Note: More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries, ranging in age from 35 to 101, are competing in the 19th World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex through July 17. This marks the first time in 16 years that the biennial event has been held in the United States. Click here for a complete list of each day's results from the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For more info on the World Master's Athletics Championships, click here.  

Editor's Note: More than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries, ranging in age from 35 to 101, are competing in the 19th World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex through July 17. This marks the first time in 16 years that the biennial event has been held in the United States. Click here for a complete list of each day's results from the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For more info on the World Master's Athletics Championships, click here.  

As we ease on down the road of life, the little things are what keep us going. Spending time with family, enjoying great entertainment and having a few laughs are great ways to have such an experience. From April 8 through April 24, California State University, Sacramento’s Department of Theatre and Dance presented William F. Brown’s “The Wiz” for the entire Sacramento community to enjoy. The play was directed by Melinda Wilson Ramey and choreographed by Linda S. Goodrich and featured the original songs by Charlie Smalls. “The Wiz” is of course the 1978 movie rendition of L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Sac State’s students pulled off the show in a very impressive way. P

Student involvement at a commuter school like Sacramento State has given the Associated Students, Inc. president, Terry Martin, an added task of making the student government organization visible. ASI members have gone to residence halls to promote their organization. They have gone to local businesses to offer discounts to students who have their student identification, known to students as the OneCard. And they have helped raise funds to keep the Hornet bus line going. From fees, class sizes and campus life, to the future direction of ASI, Martin addressed student concerns Tuesday in the University Union lobby and suggested that students get involved if they want to see a change. He sa

Sacramento State Public Relations students and Will Travers, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of BORN FREE USA, will be training, stretching, lacing up their running shoes and donning their favorite animal costumes for the Kaiser Permanente MaraFUNrun & Fitness Walk on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 8 a.m. The students and Travers are running the maraFUNrun for BORN FREE USA; a Sacramento- and Washington D.C.-based international wildlife nonprofit conservation and protection organization. To help bring awareness to BORN FREE USA and its motto of “keeping wildlife in the wild,” the students and Travers will be running the 2.62 miles in BORN FREE USA gear and some will be participating dressed

The good news is more and more people at Sacramento State are using alternative transportation and parking as they should. The bad news is revenue from parking citations has been down, and that may lead to changes to the university’s Hornet Shuttle program. The University of Transportation and Parking Services, or UTAPS, held an open forum this afternoon regarding proposed Hornet Shuttle route changes for Spring and Fall 2011. The Hornet Shuttle program began in 1989 with shuttle routes running off campus Monday – Friday from 7am to 7pm during the Fall and Spring semesters. The current fleet of six buses, all running on compressed natural gas, make 18 to 24 runs combined among three rout

The Sacramento Mountain Lions are looking to avenge their loss in this season’s opening game with a victory over the Hartford Colonials Saturday night. “We’ve got to try to see if we can get that win back from Hartford, and with three games to go, I think we’ve just got to get out and play very well in the second half of the season,” Head Coach Dennis Green said after the team’s practice Wednesday. The Colonials (1-4) beat the Mountain Lions (2-3) in the Sept. 18 opener. The teams are part of the United Football League, a professional league in its second season. Last year’s season was six games, but this year’s season has been expanded to eight games. “You play everybody twice, and the

The Sacramento State Hornets football team defeated the Northern Colorado Bears 42-7 during its annual Homecoming game at Hornet Stadium on Oct. 9. The Hornets shut out the Bears 28-0 in the second half and 14-0 in the first, third and fourth quarters. This victory moved Sac State up to fourth place in the Big Sky Conference. Here is some exclusive video footage of the game. Highlights include a running back Bryan Hilliard's first touchdown of the game and post-game interviews with players.   Photo taken by Nick Hunte