Despite the economic downturn, holiday spending still happens, with shoppers looking for the perfect gift at a good price. As is often the case, the would-be Santas are also buying presents for themselves, many of which will end up in the backs of closets or otherwise never used. This fall, in Anne Choi's class on “American Consumerism,” students were asked to bring items to class that had caused them to feel buyer's remorse. The session, which was recorded by American Public Media's “Marketplace,” aired on NPR on Dec. 13. Choi says that people often think they can buy happiness “because the media tells us that we can.” “It has become easier to buy things than to do things that ... Read More
Features
Mark Waldrep: Professor of Digital Media Arts Shares Vision of Blu-ray Audio
Mark Waldrep is like thousands of people who have moved to California: he came with dreams of stardom. For him, it wasn't the big screen, but the rock arena. Along the way though, he discovered his musical talents were better served in another area that held his interest–audio technology. “I realized my guitar playing skills weren't going to help me break into the Top 40 on the music charts, but I do have a creative musical sensibility, so I thought, why not be on the other side of the glass?” said the professor of digital media arts at California State University, Dominguez Hills who is now an expert at the forefront of three dimension (3D) surround music and video. Waldrep's ... Read More
Tayyeb Shabbir: Professor of Finance Examines U. S. and East Asia in Aftermath of Global Downturn
Associate professor of finance Tayyeb Shabbir recently presented a paper titled “Impact on 'East Asia:' 1997-98 Asian Crisis vs. 2007-09 Global Financial Crisis” at the annual international conference of the Global Academy of Business and Economic Research (GABER) in New York in October. He also served as chair for the session, “Global Financial Crisis: Impact and Policy Response.” The article has been published in GABER's Conference Proceedings. While in New York, Shabbir, an expert on financial crises, was also interviewed by Li Jing, an international reporter and American correspondent for the Xinhua News Agency (XNA), the largest wire and television agency in China. The interview was ... Read More
Kimberly Bohman-Kalaja: Professor of Literature Named Fulbright Scholar
Dr. Kimberly Bohman-Kalaja, associate professor of literature in the Humanities External Master of Arts (HUX) program at California State University, Dominguez Hills, has been named a Fulbright Scholar for 2010-2011. “I feel incredibly lucky and truly grateful,” she said of being selected for the prestigious program. Bohman-Kalaja will spend the spring 2011 semester–from February to August–at the University of Tirana in Tirana, Albania, where she will be lecturing and conducting research on the way in which Albania's writers are shaping the nation's identity. “I am interested in the way in which writers and poets see themselves in relation to their national identity,” said ... Read More
Andrew J. Leist: Alumnus Uses Digital Media Arts Skills in Medical Field
There's an art to surgery, and while surgeons orchestrate and perform, technicians in the operating room also make important contributions. California State University, Dominguez Hills alumnus Andrew J. Leist is one such technician, bringing his digital media arts skills to the medical field. After receiving his bachelor's degree in digital media arts in 2008 and while continuing to work in the music industry, Leist landed a job as an audio/visual technician at USC University Hospital Department of Surgery in Los Angeles, where he manages media technology used by surgeons performing endoscopic procedures. “It's fascinating. Before I started [working at USC University Hospital], I ... Read More
