CSU, Chico News

The California State University, Chico organization Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) won the top university honor this week at SIFE’s International Exposition in Kansas City.

The CSU, Chico SIFE team of students made multimedia presentations about their accomplishments to panels of judges, which ranked competing schools. CSU, Chico bested over 100 other four-year universities, all of which had won regional competitions representing more than 550 SIFE chapters in the U.S. and abroad.

CSU, Chico accounting professor Curt DeBerg, SIFE adviser, was named the 1999 Sam M. Walton Fellow of the Year for his participation in forming and guiding the CSU, Chico chapter.

In addition, the SIFE chapter in nearby Butte College, which frequently collaborates with the CSU, Chico chapter, won the competition among two-year colleges. Butte, located in Oroville, is CSU, Chico’s leading “feeder school” for transfers coming from community colleges. Butte faculty adviser and business education instructor Al Konuwa was named a Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellow for his role assisting the SIFE chapter.

The CSU, Chico SIFE team won $7,500 in prize money, and is traveling to Orlando this weekend to make a presentation before 2,000 business executives. General Colin Powell and Tom Couglan, CEO and president of Wal-Mart, will speak at the event. Entrepreneur magazine is planning to do a cover story on the students, and the Wall Street Journal, USA Weekend and the Voice of America are also planning stories about SIFE and the CSU, Chico and Butte teams.

In their presentations this week in Kansas City, CSU, Chico students highlighted their chapter projects, which include community work with at-risk teens, expanding high school SIFE programs and working at the Boys and Girls Club and its Computer Learning Center.

Last year, CSU, Chico’s president, Manuel A. Esteban, received the Best President of the Year Award at the 1998 SIFE International Exposition.

In their presentations this week in Kansas City, CSU, Chico students highlighted their chapter projects, which include community work with at-risk teens, expanding high school SIFE programs and working at the Boys and Girls Club and its Computer Learning Center.

The CSU, Chico SIFE student presenters were Dawn Houston, Suzanne Cozad, Rachael Muzzall, Kelby Thornton and Danielle Emis.

SIFE, founded in 1975, uses the principles of free enterprise to promote leadership, teamwork and communication skills among college students. SIFE’s annual international exposition, which features competition among college chapters, has been called “the Super Bowl of free enterprise education” by the Kansas City Star.

A news conference featuring the winning CSU, Chico and Butte teams will be held tomorrow, Friday, at 10 a.m. in room 206 of Glenn Hall on the CSU, Chico campus.

###

The California State University, Chico Testing Center has become a Computer-Based Test Center (CBT), offering Educational Testing Service (ETS) tests using Sylvan Technologies Center’s administration software and equipment.

An open house will be held April 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Meriam Library East Wing, room 143.

CSU, Chico was one of 68 sites chosen nationwide from 120 applicants to ETS to create institutional (university-affiliated) CBT Centers. Chico’s test center is one of only three CBT Centers in the CSU System (the others are Cal Poly, SLO and San Diego State.)

The CSU, Chico CBT Center is the only one in the Northern California area north of Sacramento and therefore fulfills a need for CSU, Chico students as well as for students in the surrounding area.

The CBT Center offers the Graduate Record Exam, the Graduate Management Admissions Test and the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Other tests will be added as the need arises in the area.

The university’s cost of establishing the center here was around $20,000. The costs will be reimbursed by an honoraria paid to the university for each test administered. After the reimbursement, the center will use the honoraria to be self-supporting.

For more information, contact Test Officer and CBT Center Director Judith Zachai at 530-898-6218.

###

California State University, Chico’s student-run recording label, Wild Oak Records, will be releasing a CD featuring the Chico Symphony Orchestra on April 19.

The CD will include selections from Mozart and Beethoven performed by the 65-member orchestra comprised of CSU, Chico students, players from the local area and professional musicians.

The orchestra is directed and conducted by music professor David Colson with music professor William Ramsey as the university chorus director.

Wild Oak Records student intern David Johnson said the CD is a way for the community to access quality classical music, and the Chico Symphony Orchestra’s music is the finest in the North State.

Wild Oak Records is a nonprofit record label formed in 1997 by students in CSU, Chico’s Music Industry Program. Ten students, selected by adviser and music professor Paul Friedlander, manage the business and marketing affairs for the record label.

The CD will be available at all local record stores and the CSU, Chico Associated Students bookstore. For more information, contact Friedlander at 530-898-5243.

###

Aspiring performing musicians from throughout Northern California will be gathering at California State University, Chico April 10 for advice from record label and Web marketing executives, promoters, producers and top studio musicians.

“Music Industry 2000: So You Want to Be a Rock Star,” will be held Saturday, April 10, in the Performing Arts Center on the CSU, Chico campus.

The Music Industry 2000 conference is sponsored by CSU, Chico’s Music Industry program. The conference debuted last year with the successful “Music Industry 2000: A Symposium on the Future of Music Delivery.”

Coinciding with this year’s music conference will be a new music festival, “Nowhere By Nowhere,” April 9-11. Humpfy Records and Indigo Agency will be showcasing 150 bands at eight venues in Chico.

The music conference’s morning session will feature business and recording advice for musicians. The afternoon session will offer a discussion on the future of music delivered via the Internet, tips for creating a demo tape and a studio guitarist lecture and demonstration.

“This is a how-to music conference for aspiring rock, country, jazz and classical musicians,” said CSU, Chico music professor Paul Friedlander. “For anybody interested in knowing the business-from the garage to the studio-there’s something in here for you.”

Friedlander said the afternoon session on the Internet in particular will discuss the hottest controversy in the music industry today: people bypassing record stores and labels to freely download MP3 digital music files.

“Right now anyone can search thousands of sites on the Web, find any kind of music or artist and download free CD-quality music,” Friedlander said.

One of the guest speakers in the afternoon session, the person most at the center of the downloading controversy, is Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3.com in San Diego. Robertson, a pioneer in musical use of MP3 files, has been featured recently on CNN, the CBS Morning Show and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” discussing the MP3 issue.

Also speaking at the session will be Ken Comstock, from Diamond MultiMedia in the Silicon Valley. Diamond is best known in the music business for their MP3 file playback unit, the “Rio,” that sparked one of the biggest music controversies of 1998. Diamond was sued by the record industry to prevent it from releasing the Rio, which would have played music files downloaded from the Internet. Diamond prevailed in court.

Other speakers at the conference include Allen Kovac, CEO, Left Bank Organization, which has represented Blondie, Motley Crue, Richard Marx and the Cranberries; Robert Jones, Senior V.P., Festival Productions, past producers of Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, JVC Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz and the Heritage Festival; producer/keyboardist Ronnie Foster, who has played with Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Al Green; and musician, author, educator Dick Weissman, who was a member of the ’60s folk group the Journeymen that included the Mamas and Papas founder, John Phillips, and Scott McKenzie of “If You’re Going to San Francisco” fame. Weissman is the author of many music industry books, including “The Music Business: Career Development and Self-Defense.”

For information, call (530) 898-5243 or (530) 898-5152 or visit the conference Web site at www.csuchico.edu/mi2000.

###

California State University, Chico’s student-run recording label, Wild Oak Records, will be releasing a CD featuring the Chico Symphony Orchestra on April 19.

The CD will include selections from Mozart and Beethoven performed by the 65-member orchestra comprised of CSU, Chico students, players from the local area and professional musicians.

The orchestra is directed and conducted by music professor David Colson with music professor William Ramsey as the university chorus director.

Wild Oak Records student intern David Johnson said the CD is a way for the community to access quality classical music, and the Chico Symphony Orchestra’s music is the finest in the North State.

Wild Oak Records is a nonprofit record label formed in 1997 by students in CSU, Chico’s Music Industry Program. Ten students, selected by adviser and music professor Paul Friedlander, manage the business and marketing affairs for the record label.

The CD will be available at all local record stores and the CSU, Chico Associated Students bookstore. For more information, contact Friedlander at 530-898-5243.

###

The California Glass Exchange, the state’s premiere glass blowing event, will take place Friday and Saturday, March 26-27 at California State University, Chico.

About 130 artists and collectors are expected to attend the event, which will be hosted by CSU, Chico for the first time.

Conference registration begins Friday at 9 a.m., and hot demonstrations of glass blowing will last until noon in the CSU, Chico glass studio. From 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. artists’ presentations will take place in Ayers 106 adjacent to the studio.

That evening from 6:30-8:30 three separate art openings will take place that are open to the public and free of charge. The University Art Gallery will present an exhibit of 19th and early 20th century American glass, James Snidle Fine Art will show contemporary works using glass and the 1078 Gallery will feature sculptural works using glass.

On Saturday there will be demonstrations for conference participants from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the CSU, Chico glass studio, Satava Art Glass and Orient & Flume Art Glass.

The event will cost $40 for pre-registration and $50 at the door. All the venues for the conference activities are within two miles of each other and close to downtown. For more information, call the CSU, Chico glass studio at 530-898-6922.

###

Carolivia Herron, California State University, Chico professor and author of “Nappy Hair,” will appear with the New York City school teacher whose use of the book sparked a national controversy, at CSU, Chico Saturday, March 13.

The two will participate in a discussion titled “Untangling Nappy Hair: Strategies for Teaching About Diversity” at 1 p.m. in CSU, Chico’s Harlen Adams Theatre.

When New York City school teacher Ruth Sherman used “Nappy Hair” in her predominantly African American and Hispanic class last fall, some parents of the school children complained that she was disrespectful and racially insensitive. Herron, who is African American, came quickly to Sherman’s defense, insisting that her book “is a joyful celebration of African American hair” that grew out of her own childhood experience.

Because of parents’ objections, Sherman has transferred to another school, and she and Herron have begun collaborating on a study guide to using “Nappy Hair” to address sensitive issues relating to ethnic diversity.

Herron’s book and the controversy surrounding it have received extensive media coverage in publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and USA Today. Herron has appeared on ABC’s World News Tonight, Today Show, The Montel Williams Show and The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

“Untangling Nappy Hair: Strategies for Teaching About Diversity” is intended to be of interest to teachers and students preparing to teach and anyone interested in current events or concerned about interethnic relations.

Following the discussion there will be a book-signing in the lobby of Harlen Adams Theatre for those people interested in having Herron and Sherman sign copies of “Nappy Hair.”

The discussion is being presented by the Northstate History-Social Science Project, CSU, Chico’s College of Humanities and Fine Arts, and University Public Events. Department of History professor Dale Steiner is coordinating this event. For more information, please call Steiner at 530-898-6238.

###

The College of Natural Sciences at California State University, Chico is sponsoring a classroom outreach program for grades 3-12 in Northeastern California schools.

The program will feature presentations on astronomy and science, given by geosciences professor Jim Regas or a geoscience intern, in the Roth Planetarium on the CSU, Chico campus.

Regas said the presentations will be coordinated with the astronomy curriculum and science standards teachers are currently using in their classroom and adjustments will be made to fit the grade level.

The Roth Planetarium will accommodate between 24 and 30 students, and presentations will last between 30 and 50 minutes depending on the age of the group.

For reservations, teachers are encouraged to call Department of Geosciences secretary Cathy Brooks at 530-898-5262. For more information, call Regas at 530-898-6269.

###

California State University, Chico senior Alanna Blanco’s participation in a national on-line buying experiment gets real this week with the launching of her “Feed Alanna” Web page.

Her Web page, which will feature her efforts to do all her consumer purchasing via the Internet, is linked to the Shop Chico Web site and her scheduled live chats on the Levi Strauss & Co. Web site.

The Chico State E-Commerce Society in conjunction with Matson & Isom Computer Consulting Services have created an on-line shopping mall to help Blanco access local stores and to encourage other businesses in the area to join the information age. Celestino’s Pizza, S&S Produce and Speedy Burrito have already joined in, and other Chico businesses are expected to follow.

Blanco’s on-line chat has been scheduled for Sundays, 6 p.m. at www.levi.com. At this site others will be able to view a running tab of her purchases, read about how her rabbit, Kashmir, is doing and send her fan mail.

Blanco was one of three students chosen to participate in the Levi Strauss & Co.-sponsored Semester On-line. Each student receives $500 a week and must do all purchasing on-line for the entire spring ’99 semester.

Blanco, an Internet-savvy student majoring in management information systems, found the contest while surfing the Internet. She had already been purchasing furniture and groceries on-line and thought this contest would be an interesting challenge.

The two other students participating in the experiment are Tomiko Jones from the University of Pennsylvania and Scott Raymond from the University of Kansas. The Levi Strauss & Co. Web site gives biographical and whimsical information about each student involved.

Blanco has received help and support from fellow students and professors. Kent Sandoe, CSU, Chico professor of management information systems, helped set up the “Feed Alanna” link along with help from local businesses. “Feed Alanna” is designed to help Blanco access local restaurants via the Internet.

###

California State University, Chico opens 120 new units of student housing tomorrow, Jan. 20, at the expanded University Village on Nord Avenue.

The students moving in – most of them transfer students new to the university – will find completely refurbished apartment-style housing at the site of the former Colony Inn.

In the summer of 1998, $4.2 million in state bonds were sold for the purchase and renovation of the Colony Inn, which was adjacent to the existing University Village at Nord Avenue near West Sacramento Avenue. The university has totally remodeled the apartment building and included it as part of the University Village complex.

Next fall, another 120 units will be available at the expanded University Village site, bringing the number of new student units available to 240. University Village will have a total of 460 units at that time.

Considerable work went into getting the new student housing ready for students. Interiors were gutted down to the studs, asbestos was removed and a new roof was put on the structure. New furnishings were added once the units were completed and painted.

Costs incurred by university housing — debt service, personnel, insurance, utilities — are covered by money received from student residents, not by general fund money.

University Village debuted in 1991 after the university purchased the former Open Circles complex. Although University Village is located off-campus, it is operated like an on-campus residence hall, with a front desk, university rules and regulations, staff in residence and planned activities for residents.

The new units are four-bedroom, two-bath apartments, known as clusters. The residents, like other University Village residents, will have access to a pool, tennis court, community room and 24-hour staffing. University Police will patrol the area like other university facilities.

Over past few years, CSU, Chico has had more requests for university-operated student housing spaces than it can provide. Enrollment growth and strong interest among new students and parents in university-operated housing are both responsible. Even with the University Village expansion, CSU, Chico estimates several hundred more bed spaces will be required in the next few years to meet incoming students’ requests for university-operated housing.

###