Advertising major wins "The Celebrity Apprentice" challenge
Is seafood part of your healthy, wholesome diet? If not, you might just get a visit from Tommy Tuna, aka Benjamin Hernandez, an SJSU advertising junior and winner of Chicken of the Sea's Celebrity Apprentice Challenge.
"The contest entailed making a 90-second viral video for Chicken of the Sea that could be easily used on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace," explains Hernandez. "My entry featured Tommy Tuna, an over-the-top pitchman espousing the benefits of seafood while handing out Chicken of the Sea products on the streets."
"Benjamin's entry immediately caught our eye," says John Sawyer, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Chicken of the Sea. "It was creative, funny and out of the box."
As the grand-prize winner, Hernandez was flown to New York City for the season finale of the NBC show and served as Chicken of the Sea's red carpet correspondent."Interviewing the celebrities was a rush," recalls Hernandez. "Joan Rivers, Donald Trump, Andrew Dice Clay, Brian McKnight and Piers Morgan, among others, were kind enough to speak with me, even though I think I butchered the interviews."
Read more about Hernandez's NYC experiences and view his winning viral video campaign.
New course in green entrepreneurship
When Business Professor Anuradha Basu polled students last year about which courses they would be interested in taking, green entrepreneurship won hands down. Also interested in sustainability issues, Basu created a course that focused on green technology, environmental protection and sustainable development. Twenty-three students from business, design, mechanical engineering, kinesiology, nutrition and recreation signed up to take the class last spring.
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike Looney, founder of Bottlestone, a company that turns recycled glass into kitchen counter tops, was one of many local professionals who visited to discuss the economic challenges of startups and the rationale for green initiatives. Basu and her students also took a guided tour of retired SJSU Environmental Studies Lecturer Frank Schiavo's eco-friendly house.
"I enjoyed having a group of genuinely enthusiastic students," Basu says. "And I hope they gained insights into global business and environmental trends that will help in their future endeavors."
San José seeks public input on Wikiplanning
The city of San José is using Wikiplanning, an interactive website, to solicit public input for its Envision San José 2040 General Plan Update. Both residents and non-residents are encouraged to take part in the online project and share their ideas.
In addition to learning about the city's General Plan, participants can express their opinions to community leaders through message boards and have some fun by posting photos of their favorite or not-sofavorite spots in San José neighborhoods. Incentive awards are given to a percentage of those who complete online surveys. Visit wikiplanning.org and enter your residential zip code or the pass code 2040.
Business Plan winners
The seventh annual Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship, encourages innovation in the SJSU community and rewards student participation in new venture creation. This year's winners include:
$10,000 Wanda Ganner Award -- RateTheTest.com Ryan Guerrettaz, '10 Finance, developed this online study forum for college students, inspired by RateMyProfessors. com.
$5,000 Larry Boucher Award -- Veggielution Monica Lisa Benavides, '09 Child and Adolescent Development, and the Veggielution team created a local, sustainable food system through a quarter-acre urban farm at San José's Emma Prusch Park.
$2,500 Dan Doles Award -- CROConnect To increase the success of global clinical trials, Chandini Kalsy, '09 MS Biotechnology, and two other biotechnology graduate students came up with a business that acts as a liaison between contract research organizations and medical device companies.
$500 Best Business Plan Award -- DoCause When Ahmed Mahmoud, '09 MBA, realized "there was no single web destination where people could engage with others to impact common causes they care about," he created DoCause, a social networking startup targeting nonprofit organizations and socially responsible corporations.
An alumnus reconnects
Krishna Kant Dixit, '51 Biology, arrived in the states from India with a trunk full of clothes, a blazer, a bedroll, homemade pickles, and the dream of being a doctor. After a few weeks at another university, he transferred to San José State where he immediately "felt more at home," he says. "The faculty were understanding, compassionate and patient, providing personal attention to every student -- just what I needed, given my ignorance of the culture and inability to speak English in the American accent." Read more on Dixit.
Student wins top award from mapping association
Jake Coolidge, '10 MA Geography, won the Bay Area Automated Mapping Association $2,500 annual scholarship for an animated series of cartograms representing the growth of California counties between 1900 and 2000.
"A cartogram is a type of thematic map that has been abstracted to become more like a diagram," explains Coolidge, who used U.S. Census data to map the population of California counties in 20-year intervals. "In the beginning, San Francisco is the undisputed population center for the state, but it is quickly overtaken by Los Angeles County. In the post-World War II boom, Santa Clara and Orange counties grow dramatically, and the Inland Empire experiences major growth in the 1980s."
Coolidge describes his work as "getting people excited about mapmaking and the visualization of geographic information. If just one person walks away from a map I design with a better understanding of this infinitely complex world we share, I'm happy." View Coolidge's cartogram.
VP for information technology/ CIO announced
William B. Maguire is San José State University's first vice president for information technology and also serves as the university's chief information officer. Maguire manages central computing and infrastructure operations and leads the new campus-wide initiative to review and realign San José State's information technology services. He brings to the job over three decades of relevant experience.
As vice president/CIO of Virgin America, he was responsible for building out the airline's IT infrastructure. He has also served as senior vice president/CIO at Aspect Communications, vice president/CIO at Legato Systems, and vice president of emerging business operations at Amdahl Corporation. His career began at the U.S. Postal Service, where he managed computer operations.
New dean named
Dr. Elaine Chin has been appointed dean of the Connie L. Lurie College of Education. Prior to this position, Chin served as associate dean for administrative affairs in the college for two years. She originally came to SJSU from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, where she served in the College of Education as department chair and as associate director for teacher education for a decade.
Chin has a bachelor's degree in English and a master's in English education from the University of Chicago. She also holds a doctorate in education from Stanford University.
Student receives health promotion policy training scholarship
Twenty-six-year-old Omar Sahak, '10 MPH, is one of 20 students nationwide to win the health promotion policy training scholarship from the State Health Policy Institute, a new Society of Public Health Education initiative in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a newly trained and certified health promotion policy expert, Sahak says he is "committed to focusing on chronic disease-related issues and developing an advocacy plan that utilizes the latest research, collaborative partnerships, theory- based approaches, and models to enact legislation or policies that promote the prevention of chronic diseases." Sahak plans to focus on being an advocate for healthy children and youth.
SJSU recognized for water recycling
South Bay Water Recycling and the Santa Clara Valley Water District have recognized SJSU for its commitment to protecting the environment through the use of recycled water since 1999. SJSU's efforts resulted in more than 20 million gallons of drinking water saved in 2008, enough to supply about 150 South Bay households for one year. The awards program recognizes industrial users that have demonstrated a long-term commitment to recycled water, which SJSU uses at its co-generation power plant and South Campus athletic fields.
Coaches of the Year
San José State alumni Sam Piraro, '75 Physical Education, John Dormann, '89 Social Studies, and Lou Tully, '67 Physical Education, were named conference Coach of the Year in their respective sports during the 2009 spring season. Piraro earned his fourth Western Athletic Conference honor since 1997. Dormann is the Coach of the Year for the second time in the last four seasons. Tully was the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's water polo Coach of the Year.
March Madness Back in San José
San José State University will host 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball first and second round action at the HP Pavilion in downtown San José, Thursday, March 18, and Saturday, March 20. Six games will be played as teams advance their way to regional championship action and the Final Four. Purchase all-session tickets.
Spartans drafted by MLB
Shortstop Kyle Bellows and pitchers David Berner, Max Peterson, Trevor Gibson and Ryan Shopshre were selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Of the more than 1,200 players selected, Bellows was the first Spartan chosen when the Cleveland Indians named him in the fourth round. All five players signed a contract and began their professional careers during the summer.
On the National Scene
Stacy Martin, '02 Business Administration, '05 MBA, was elected second vice-president of the College Athletic Business Management Association (CABMA) for the 2009-10 academic year. CABMA establishes and implements standards of integrity and efficiency in the business practices of athletics departments in colleges and universities.
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