Equipment infusion installed

By Mike Kilroy
Summer Forty-Niner

The CSULB Foundation is upgrading its teleconferencing center with approximately $55,000 worth of new "state-of-the-art" equipment to rejuvenate interest in the center from area businesses and Cal State Long Beach faculty and administration, according to foundation officials.

Barbara Miller, property manager for the Foundation Building, said the center's use has fallen off the last two years due to increased competition from area hotels that have installed better systems.

"It's not a moneymaker," Miller said. "We are committed to try and make it one."

Building Engineer Zeke Bonilla said the foundation is replacing a 6-year-old video-conferencing system with the installation of a Tandberg Educator distance learning system.

"Other people were upgrading and our system was getting less and less reliable," Bonilla said.

The Tandberg is being adopted by the California State University system to allow distance education courses among CSU campuses, according to Toni Beron, university spokeswoman.

Another addition to the center are "smart mikes" that incorporate Plexiglas "sound collectors" for improved audio communications, especially for video-conferences involving questions from an audience.

"No matter where in the room you are, you can be whispering or yelling, and with (the 'smart mikes') ill be heard and the audio will be kept at a constant volume," Bonilla said.

With the addition of the new equipment, it's hoped the center will see expanded use by campus faculty as well as private industry, Beron said.