Lights, Camera, Action

In a new approach to student involvement in commercials, several select groups from the CSULB Film and Electronic Arts Department(FEA) were chosen in May 2008 to compete for a 30 second commercial spot advertising the Ford Focus and sponsored by the Southern California Ford Dealers.

The winning commercial came from production students Luke Richmond and Mantas Zvinas. Along with earning recognition, the two students were awarded a $2,500 cash prize for being selected as the winners out of nine teams from CSULB.

A few other local schools, including Chapman University and Cal State Northridge, were involved in the competition and "There was an open call to film schools through Ford," said Rob Riddle, co- director of one of the other CSULB teams.

Teams were given a deadline to submit their finished spot and Riddle's group spent about 10 days working on the production. "We spent a week in pre-production, choosing a location,setting up shots and then we filmed it in a day," said Riddle. "We shot it at a hangar down near the Long Beach airport and we used crane shots and dollies to give it a professional look."

Ford employed Dailey & Associates Advertising to judge the commercials and choose the winning group. The FEA has been had competitions before, but when it comes to being involved in a competition with a major company like Ford, "We were the first ones to do it," said Riddle.

Time to get Creative

The CSULB Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(SIE) has just ended their yearly innovation challenge, according to the CSULB website. The challenge took place from February 26 to March 4 and consisted of teams made up of Long Beach State students.

Students were given three random objects that they had to turn into something of monetary and social value.

Judging will be done March 17 during the innovation showcase at the USU ballroom from 3-5 p.m. Students will be graded on creativity, innovation, efficiency, reachability and collaboration. First, second and third place will receive $500, $300 and $200 respectively.

This competition was started in 2003 by Idea Crossing, a company specializing in idea contests. Since then, Idea Crossing has become the largest business innovation competition for students.

Previous winners include last years "Team Innovative Inertia" from the College of Business Administration(CBA) who created shoes out of 100 percent recycled plastic using an iron to melt plastic bags. The shoes were created for two reasons: to help children in developing countries without any footwear and to reduce the amount of plastic bags in overflow land fills.

The team credits their advisor, Legal Studies in Business Professor Tom Rhoads. “Don’t just think outside of the box, invent a completely new box,” said Rhoads.

Make Yourself at Home

Long Beach State officials announced in the Summer of 2007 that a new dormitory would be purchased off-campus to help provide housing for an already overcrowded university. The new dormitory is different from the other on-campus dorms however, this dorm will be filled with students and faculty. According to the LBpost, many Long Beach State faculty do not even refer to the Residential Learning College(RLC) as a dormitory, but rather a learning community.

Students will be living and learning alongside faculty in the RLC and studies have shown that innovations like this help to raise GPA's and graduation rates on college campuses. "Increasing student living and learning opportunities is an important priority for our campus," said CSULB President F. King Alexander.

The RLC is located one mile away from campus where Brooks College used to hold classes. This new living arrangement is meant to accommodate 134 Long Beach State students and includes a dining area, study rooms and a pool. The purchase of this property cost $11.1 million with another $15 million in renovations expected.

Other ideas are in the works about opening up more off-campus housing as well, according to CSULB Vice President for Administration and Finance Mary Stephens. "Discussions are ongoing but no such project has been identified,” said Stephens.

Grants for the Arts

The Carpenter Performing Arts Center's (CPAC) project plan about the history of censorship in Southern California has advanced to the semi-finals of the 2010 Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program and been given $7,000 to continue its work.

The project plan, titled "Banned, Blacklisted and Boycotted" advanced with 30 other groups, out of 150 original participants, that are seeking to become one of 10 groups that will receive a one-to-two year grant ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. According to the CSULB website, the grants are awarded to projects that go beyond conventional practice and perspectives on collaboration and learning. Beginning in 2006, grants have been given out by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

This grant will help promote ideas by students at Long Beach State to create new collaborations that will explore diverse and unconventional topics. “One of our goals at the Carpenter Center is to provide more avenues for performing artists to participate with and integrate into the academic departments of Cal State Long Beach and our larger Long Beach community,” said Michele Roberge, CPAC’s executive director.

The 10 winning projects will be announced in August 2010.