Que pasa? : PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Cal State Long Beach’s new student body president, Diana Sanchez of Hacienda Heights, is out to persuade legislators that “education is the solution--not the problem. Our fees have been raised 20%, yet our university’s budget is being cut by between $14 million and $16 million.” A senior majoring in business and public relations, Sanchez, 22, has been lobbying legislators since January, “but their basic reply is, ‘Students don’t vote,’ ” she said. CSULB students have collected 5,000 signatures on petitions seeking more funding, and Sanchez said students also have launched a voter registration drive. “We’re hoping to make students more aware of the funding crisis, and hopefully we’ll be able to provoke them to vote,” she said.

The Japanese-based Mizuno International Design competition attracted 10,000 entries from design students in the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Korea, China and Japan, but Janina Barajas, 24, of Santa Monica, walked away with the first prize of $11,000 and a trip to Paris. Barajas, a senior at Otis/Parsons School of Art and Design in Los Angeles, captured top honors with her futuristic design of a tennis outfit. “I used to sew clothes for my Barbie dolls and for my cousins,” said Barajas, explaining that she has had a passion for fashion design since she was a child. The competition had the theme “Dream Odyssey 2001.” Barajas, who hopes to one day own her own sportswear company, may realize her dream well before then.