By Cougar Chronicle staff

Solomon Ahmad Atighi, a 25-year-old honors psychology student at Cal State San Marcos, was killed Oct. 28 in a solo motorcycle accident at the intersections of Interstate 15 and State Route 52 in San Diego.

Atighi, a resident of San Diego who went by the nickname “Tigs,” was found by a passing motorist just after 2 a.m. on the southbound connector ramp from I-15 to westbound SR-52. He had been thrown from his late model Honda CBR 600 motorcycle and died at the scene, according to a report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office.

Atighi, a psychology student, was named to the Dean’s List for CSUSM’s College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences in both fall 2009 and 2011, according to reports on the university’s website. One of his former professors, Psychology Department Chair Miriam W. Schustack, remembered Atighi as an outstanding student who got along with everyone.

“I got to know Solomon Atighi when he was a student in one of my psychology classes a few years ago,” Schustack said. “I have taught thousands of students in my many years at CSUSM and I confess that I don’t remember all of them, or even most of them, but I do remember the students who make an impression and Solomon was one of those.

“He wasn’t only a good student — he also seemed like a good person in his interactions with me and with his fellow students.  I know that he later became of a member of the CSUSM campus chapter of PsiChi, the international honor society in psychology — that means he met PsiChi’s very rigorous academic standards.  Solomon also had the distinction of being a presenter at the annual CSUSM Psychology Student Research Fair in 2011, as co-author with another student of a poster about an experiment they had done.

“I often ran into him on campus after he had finished my class, and he always had something good to say about his studies or about his life.  When I was notified of his tragic accident, I shared that information with all the faculty in my department.
“Since Solomon was a psychology major, he took courses with many psych professors. Several of us remembered him, as a good student and a positive presence in our classrooms.  That is a great distinction, since we serve  hundreds of psych majors every year— and remember only the handful who made a big impression on us,” Schustack said.

In an online memorial page set up for his funeral, which was held Nov. 4 in San Diego, Atighi was memorialized by a friend who was a fellow cadet with Atighi at the New Mexico Military Institute, a military community college in Roswell, N.M.

“This is truly tragic,” write Ian Behl of Monterey, Cal. “Solomon was one of the best people I met while attending NMMI and I can honestly say it was a privilege to have known him. He was a bright and energetic young man and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Police believe that Atighi, who had been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, was driving at an unknown speed on the connector and failed to negotiate a curve, veered off the ramp and was ejected from the motorcycle. After being summoned to the scene, California Highway Patrol and San Diego Fire paramedics were unable to resuscitate Atighi and pronounced him dead at the scene at 2:39 a.m.

A memorial video for Atighi can be seen here: http://www.tributes.com/condolences/view_memories/94662849?p=10&start_index=1