The Modesto Bee (California), June 28, 2006, Wednesday

Copyright 2006 The Modesto Bee
The Modesto Bee (California)

Distributed by Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service

June 28, 2006 Wednesday

SECTION: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS

HEADLINE: Stanislaus State HR team wins national competition: Students defeat Cornell, are awarded $3,000 prize

BYLINE: Christina Salerno, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

BODY:
Jun. 28--It was like David facing Goliath.
The human resources team from California State University, Stanislaus, fought its way to the top Monday, beating defending champion Cornell University during a two-day Society for Human Resource Management competition in Washington, D.C.
"Cornell is the premier team in the country, and we knocked them out," said Ed Hernandez, the Stanislaus State team's adviser and a College of Business faculty member. "In terms of the big picture, it puts CSU Stanislaus in a unique position on a national scale. We are a campus that is not supposed to be winning this. The other schools didn't even know who we were."
Hernandez, calling from a Texas airport on his way back to California, said the team was "crying and jumping" with joy after winning the championship.
It is the first national championship title for the team, which includes students Alfonso Valencia of Winton, Rosie Borjon of Escalon and Crystal Jack of Volcano. They were awarded a $3,000 cash prize for the win.
"We have a reputation as the team that studies the most," Hernandez said. "We studied a year or two in advance, as much as twice a week. We take it dead serious. But that's what it takes to break to the top."
The teams were quizzed on human resources knowledge, as well as general management, business and economics. The questions included definitions, laws, dates, deadlines, common practices and human resource theories.
The competition is in a format similar to the television game show "Jeopardy."
The competition began with 400 college teams from around the country. After capturing the state title in February, the Stanislaus State team won the 2006 Pacific Western Region Human Resource Championships in Honolulu in April. The win advanced them to the national championship in Washington, D.C.
The team lost to Cornell during opening rounds Sunday, but then scored consecutive victories over Utah State, North Carolina State and Southwestern Minnesota State. In Monday's semifinal round, Stanislaus State defeated Cornell and then outscored Utah State to win the national crown.
Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at 238-4574 or csalerno@modbee.com.
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