csun – Page 4 – Observations Along the Road

Enthused About CSUN

Posted onWednesday, April 25, 2007Authorcahwyguy

Today, I went to the semiannual meeting of the CSUN School of Engineering and Computer Science Industry Advisory Board, which is made up of a bunch of really neat people, all of whom care deeply about CSUN’s Engineering School. These meetings always leave me enthused about what a great Engineering program CSUN has, and frustrated about why so few people realize it.

One of the subjects we talked about was outreach and retention. In other words: how do we get students interested in being engineers, and once they are in the curriculum, how do we get them to finish it out. One of the things CSUN is doing is getting involved with the FIRST Robotics Competition and VEX Robotics Competition, extending down to high school and middle school. They also have an innovative program where the Introduction to Engineering class, MSE 101, is done in High School. I, of course, piped up with my pet project: having faculty and IAB members participate in the California State Science Fair as judges, which is a great way to meet and encourage students. I’m hoping some take me up on the offer.

We also heard about an innovative online program, the Master of Science in Engineering Management–Online. This is a two-year program that results in a MS degree, and teaches all about engineering management. It’s something I’d like to recommend to folks in the program office, and might even be worth it for me.

The new dean, Dean S.K. Ramesh (formerly of Sacramento State) talked about some of his efforts to get students interested in engineering. In particular, he mentioned TryEngineering, a resource for students (ages 8-18), their parents, their teachers and their school counselors that serves as a portal about engineering and engineering careers. Sounds very promising.

We also had discussions about how to fundraise for CSUN, which can use the support. UCLA raises nearly 90% of their operating funds, CSUN perhaps 10%-15%. We talked about how to raise the perception of CSUN’s value. I suggested that they emphasize that their program is a “Education for the current and future practicing engineers”, which highlights the ability to get your degree while working in the field, and while working and gaining practical experiences. We also talked about the services CSUN can provide to employers.

It’s odd. I’m a UCLA graduate, but not a big UCLA supporter (unless, of course, we’re talking about USC). From my experience, the engineers that come out seem to emphasize the research, and it takes longer for them to get up to speed in industry. Perhaps this is just true for the MS and PhDs. But CSUN grads hit the road running.

Now if I could just convince my employer to look beyond the south bay (for you Northern California folks, my use of the term “south bay” refers to the area S of LA International Airport) and the “big name” schools. Many of the Cal State campuses produce equal, if not better, students.

That Big Bad Music Makes Me Go Insane

Posted onSaturday, March 10, 2007Authorcahwyguy

I’m not a kid anymore. My ears are still ringing.

The last time I went to a true rock concert was sometime in the early 1980s: I went to go see Dan Fogelberg at the Forum. Other than that, my concert going has been much quieter: Peter, Paul, and Mary; Tom Paxton; the Austin Lounge Lizards; or Shep Cooke just don’t play loud enough to bring the house down.

So, I wasn’t really prepared for tonight. What was that you said? I still can’t hear you.

Tonight, we went to the CSUN Performing Arts Center to hear and see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. For those not familiar with BBVD, they are a contemporary swing band from Southern California that tours around the world. Led by Scott Morris (vocals and guitar), the band consists of Kurt Sodergren (drums and percussion), Dirk Shumaker (string bass), Andy Rowley (baritone saxophone), Glen “The Kid” Marhevka (trumpet), Karl Hunter (saxophone and clarinet), Joshua Levy (piano), Anthony Bonsera (trumpet), and Alex Henderson (trombone). As you can imagine with all that brass, they were LOUD. But sometimes, loud is good.

I didn’t note all the songs they did, but they did 90+ minutes straight through, all heavy brass swing. It included stuff from their first album, the holiday album, and their latest New Orleans tinged album. It was wonderful. It made me wish I could swing dance (in fact, I think it is something I might explore for exercise). Making the show even more energetic was the fact they were playing to a home crowd. Three of the band are CSUN graduates, and they all hail from this area.

All in all, it was a great evening (other than a whiney 12-year-old when we got home — the teen truck has definately hit). Now if my ears would just return to normal!

So, what’s next on the theatre calendar? “Songs for a New World” at the ELATE Lincoln Stegman Theatre on Sat Mar 17^th @ 8pm; “The Beatles Slept Here” (a Moorpark Melodrama from the High Street Theatre Foundation) at the Secret Garden Restaurant (tickets) on Sun Mar 18^th at 1:30pm; “The Last 5 Years” at REP East on Sun Mar 25^th at 2pm; “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on Sat Mar 31^st at 2pm; and “Cuttin Up’” at the Pasadena Playhouse on Sat Apr 7^th at 8pm. I’ll be looking on Goldstar for tickets for “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” through Broadway/LA (tickets go on sale 3/18)… and through HotTix, tickets for “Jersey Boys” at the TaperAhmanson (tickets on sale 3/12; HotTix on 5/4 or after).

The Perils of Hacking

Posted onSaturday, September 30, 2006Authorcahwyguy

Many of us have wondered what penalty there might be for hacking into a college computer to change your grade. Well, according to the Daily Sundial at CSUN (although I read it in the Daily News), two students have just found out. CSUN students Lena Chen, 20, and Jennifer Ngan, 19, have pleaded “no contest” to infiltrating the campus account of a political science professor late last May, changing their grades and those of about 300 classmates. In addition, the account’s initial password was changed and all incoming messages were forwarded to their own e-mail address. They then purportedly found personal information and used it to order pizza, sign up for magazine subscriptions and order a shipment of CDs under the name of the professor.

For their crime of one count each of unauthorized access of a computer system and acquiring personal information with the intent to defraud, each has been sentenced to 60 days in jail, or 30 days of state roadside work, as well as 36 months on probation. Further, they are required to stay away from the university and the professor.

What do other students think of that? An editorial by Maliha Jafri in the Daily Sundial states:

Don’t like your professor? Want revenge for your hours of suffering through lectures and rough grading? Then simply hack his e-mail account, change the grade of 300 students, use his personal data to order pizza, send more than 20 magazine subscriptions and blank CDs to his house.

In the case that you are tracked and caught in the act, the dean will award you with the luxury of time off as you are removed from the university. Then if you are alleged convicted of the crime you will be granted a vacation to jail for a minimum one year per charge.

CSUN Internet security is a joke. Anyone can answer “security questions” about you with little or no research including: what is your birthday, what is your pet’s name and what is the color of your car. The CSUN security system has a series of common questions that are not too hard to get by. Hackers take advantage of your poor security measures and you could end up with massive credit card bills and identity theft.

Actually, this reaction doesn’t surprise me; CSUN has had some security problems for many years. My wife loves to tell the story of the days of the RSTS systems, where the passwords were kept in an unlocked file cabinet. Some enterprising individuals used to grab those passwords, bake them into fortune cookies, and then send the cookies to the system administrators, who couldn’t figure out how they got the passwords. How did Lena and Jennifer get their access? It was as simple as answering secret password such as “George W. Bush is the president of what country?” or “How many U.S. states are there?”

There are good mechanisms for computer security, and I’m sure that the systems in the CS department are more robust (I know they do teach a computer security course there). Now they just need to educate the staff and faculty outside the engineering department.

Hmmm, I was just asked if I wanted to speak to the ACM chapter on campus (providing me time to talk with the Computer Security faculty there). Perhaps I should talk about this.

A Dog On The Stage. Make That Dogs. 101, To Be Precise.

Posted onSaturday, July 29, 2006Authorcahwyguy

This morning, my daughter and I went to see one of her friends in “Disneys 101 Dalmations“, an adaptation by Marcy Heisler, with music and lyrics by Mel Leven, Randy Rogel, Richard Gibbs, Brian Smith, Martin Lee Fuller, and Dan Root. It was a production of the 49^th Annual TeenAge Drama Workshop at CSUN. Going into such a production, the bar is pretty low: you know there are kids doing the show, and it is aimed at the kids in the audience, based on an animated movie that wasn’t known for its songs to begin with.

So what did a think? Pleasant. The show, for the skills of those involved, was quite good. There were a number of strong performers, especially Francesca Riso, Kelsey Cottrell, and Rachel Eisner, all of whom sang quite well. Although some of the large cast were unsure about themselves, others were quite confident, and the fun they were having came through. Of course, it goes without saying that all of the teen actors playing the dogs really knew how to shake their tails [pauses for groan].

I think, of this cast, there are some who have the capacity to succeed in this field. Kudos for CSUN and this program, which combined with their excellent theatre arts program, does a wonderful job of preparing children for the stage.

CSUN Brag: CSUN tops in prepping Ph.D. pupils

Posted onSunday, June 18, 2006Authorcahwyguy

Seen into today’s Daily News: The National Science Foundation recently ranked California State University, Northridge, second in the nation in preparing students to earn doctoral degrees in research fields, particularly sciences, according to a university statement released last week. Only California State University, Long Beach, graduated more students who went on to earn doctoral degrees between 1995 and 2004. Between 50 and 70 CSUN alumni earned doctoral degrees each year during that span. Furthermore, CSUN ranked first nationwide in preparing psychology doctorate recipients, a title it’s held consistently since 1991. CSUN was fourth in the nation in graduating students who went on to earn doctorates in the social sciences. It also came sixth in preparing science and engineering doctorates and tenth in biological sciences.

I think I’ll have to point this out to management at work.

New CSUN Engineering School Dean… from Sacramento

Posted onWednesday, May 24, 2006Authorcahwyguy

I just received the announcement of the new Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Cal State Northridge. It is Dr. S.K. Ramesh, a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at California State University, Sacramento, who has served as CSUS Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department Chair since 1994, leading the department through two successful ABET accreditation visits. In 2003-04 he served as Special Assistant to the President on Information Technology, and from 2004 – present he serves as the Special Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs on Information Technology. They note he was active in IEEE in the Sacramento area, and recieved the 2000 Person of the Year Award from the Sacramento Engineering and Technology Regional Consortium.

OK. I know there are a bunch of Sacramento and Davis folks reading this. Does anyone know anything about this guy?

Getting Your Hair Done Right

Posted onSunday, May 14, 2006Authorcahwyguy

Back in June 2001, I saw the Reprise production of Hair. This production starred Sam Harris (Claude), Steven Weber (Berger), Rod Keller (Woof), Allan Louis (Hud), Jennifer Leigh Warren (Sheila), and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Joanie), with a cast of about 17 more. The show was at the Wadsworth Theatre. I want you to notice a few things about this production: (1) It was before 9/11 and the “War on Terrorism”; (2) most of the leads in the show were well over 30 years old; and (3) it was held on the campus of the Veterans Administration.

Last night, I saw Hair for a second time; this time at a proper venue (CSUN); with a proper cast (college students); and in a proper context (post 9/11). This was Hair done right. It starred a large collection of college students (30), who obviously were more than just “actors”: they were in to this musical and what does it say? (and what is that, you ask). The message of Hair is really two fold: the power of love, and the horror of war. It is a message that resonates extremely strongly today.

This production of Hair (the “Waabi Kiizis Tribe“¹ — yes, they have a myspace page) starred Kevin Ellis as Berger, Chris Chase as Woof, Marcel Hill as Hud, Erik Roget as Claude, either Tillie Spencer or Bonnie Sludikoff as Jeanie, Ana Therese Lopez as Dionne, Molly Orr as Crissy, Emily Belgard as Sheila, Daniel Mahler as M. Mead, Patrick Ryan as Hubert, and Sarah Modelowitz Walsh as Ronny. Others in the tribe were Katie Ashley, Brandon Baciocco, Elliott Barker, James Bingham III, Verity Branco, Aubrey Canfield, Deverau Chumrau, Ana Galang, Pippa Greene, John Paul Jones, Stephanie Jones, Kiki Kusama, Shari Lucas, Jeff Nichols, Talia Sarah Savren, Milo Shearer, Carlie Sonenschein, Sammi Wallschlaeger, and Mary Grace Wilson. It was directed by Garry Lennon, with musical direction by Paul Taylor and Cheoeography by Christine Chrest. I’ll note that most of the cast has Myspace profiles,² as befits this generation (and as I result, I created one too (use my LJ name), but mine just points back to LJ).

For those unfamiliar with the story, there isn’t one, or there is. Hair is a rough musical. The basic plot is the story of Claude, who just had his induction physical for the Vietnam draft, and is about to go into the Army. The first half, however, is more getting to know the tribe and their relationships; the second half (which was extremely powerful) is a hallucination about the war. Along the way there is love, some nudity (although quite tastefully done), more love, war protests, drugs, more love, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, more love, some starshine, and a wild trip. For those unfamiliar with the 1960s (alas, I was the next generation), this recreates it.

So how did this cast do? Extremely, extremely well. You could see on there faces that this was more than an acting job: this had meaning and depth to them (which is something I don’t recall about the Reprise! cast). I had a really fun time watching the faces and the movement of the entire cast. It was riviting how much they were into this show. Perhaps it was the fact that this show echos what is happening today in Iraq. More on that later.

Was it a perfect show? No. This is a theatre school, and there were a few problems, mostly technical (i.e., sound). But the raw talent of this cast more than made up for that–these young actors and the talented crew behind them are going to go far. I look forward to seeing them in the future on the stages of Cabrillo, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Ahmanson and Pantages, and on Broadway.

We took our 11 year old daughter (NSS&F) to the show with us. She was worried about the nude scene, but they did it very tactfully (it occurs during the song Where Do I Go?). You really couldn’t see anything³. I think the sex portions just passed her by, but the anti-war message of the show came through loud and clear. She told us afterwards that she was extremely glad that she went; it gave her understanding of that generation.

As to the anti-war message. The CSUN Theatre and Art Departments made the relevance to today clear. In the lobby were displays of various current incidents, including the Iraqi war, immigration issues, terrorism issues. Little dioramas that depicted scenes of topical relevance. Made with Peeps. Yup. Bunnies, Rabbits, Chicks. Additionally, during the hallucination sequence, not only were Vietnamese being killed by the soldiers, but Iraqis, Buddhist Monks, Koreans, Japanese, Germans, and Native Americans as well.

Tonight (5/14) is the last night of the show; if you can get tickets, go see it. It was great.

What’s next on the theatre calendar? Don’t Dress for Dinner at the Rep East Playhouse in Newhall at the end of the month, and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure at the Pasadena Playhouse in early June. Rep East will also be doing Shakespeare in the Park: Hamlet in June. I’m still keeping my eyes open for tickets to Curtains at the Ahmanson; I’ll grab them as soon as I see them on Goldstar.

[Crossposted to cahwyguy and socal_theatre]

¹ According to the tribe, Waabi Kiizis is Algonquin for “See the Sun” or “See Sun.” This name was chosen because it not only exemplifies Cal State University Northridge (“C”SUN), but it embodies the desire to “Let The Sun Shine IN!”
² I attempted to traceback all the MySpace profiles for the cast. If I missed one, or got one wrong, please let me know and I’ll fix it.
³ Which in some ways is too bad, because the cast was extremely attractive :-).

Progress, Progress…

Posted onTuesday, February 14, 2006Authorcahwyguy

I’m enthused. I just came back from a really good meeting at CSUN, where it looks like our company will get more involved with the school. Hopefully, this will get us some good students, and build the relationship. I might even be doing on-campus interviews, learning yet another new skill! Building this relationship is something I’ve been doing for over 8 years. It’s nice to see something finally coming of it.