Do you want a 73% fee and tuition increase in the fall?

Time to wipe the smile off the governor's face. It is time for students to join in "feedback" to the governor and the state legislature, as legislative deliberations begin in Carson City.

Governor Sandovol's budget proposal includes the need to increase community college tuition and fees by a minimum of 73%,  from $69.25 per credit hour to at least $119.48 per credit hour. To meet the governors deep cuts CSN and other schools could potentially close campus locations, potentially shut down select services, decrease course sections, potentially decrease faculty and staff, set minimum entrance requirements and cap enrollment numbers.


The Governor’s Recommended budget includes a reduction of support for the College of Southern Nevada in each year of the biennium of:

o   FY 2011-12:  ($15,485,182) plus

o   FY 2012-13:  ($26,762,251) change from FY 2010-11 levels

These proposals come after major cuts impacting the school over the past four years. Keep in mind that the impact under previous Governor Gibbons , "the education governor", have already crippled CSN and changed the texture  and nature of eduction in Nevada. Over the past three years...

·        Seventy percent of CSN’s budget is from the state. Students pay only a small percentage.

·        Registration fees have increased by 26.48% since 2007, a rise of fourth of all tuition and fees.

·        CSN has reduced staffing by 5% since 2007 and student enrollment has increased by 12.6% (FTE), with for the first time last year, large numbers of students unable to get classes.

·        CSN is the largest higher education institution in the State of Nevada – with headcount enrollment per semester of 44,000+

·        CSN receives the lowest amount of general fund support per student FTE in the state..

CONTACT YOUR STATE ASSEMBLY PERSON AND STATE SENATOR TODAY AND TELL THEM TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NOT TO CUT ANY HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCING. 

If you do not then the consequences will live on long after this legislative session. It is in your hands.

http://mapserve.leg.state.nv.us/website/lcb/viewer.htm

CSN Budget Town Hall Meeting Feb 2 on-line

There will be a town hall meeting with CSN President Michael Richards about the budget on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 3:30 p.m., prior to the special Board of Regents meeting, which will be held the next day at the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas.

The CSN President’s town hall will be held on the Charleston campus in D101 and will be webcast, as seating is limited. A link will be made available on the home page at www.csn.edu on Wednesday to watch the town hall live.

The town hall will also be archived for your convenience on the “events” page of the CSN Budget Issues’ website. The CSN Budget Issues site is located on the home page and serves as a repository for information pertaining to CSN’s budget during the legislative session.

What: President’s Town Hall

When: Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 3:30 p.m.

Where: Charleston campus, D101 or watch live online

New book presents a photographic history of filming in Los Angeles

New book presents a photographic history of filming in Los Angeles

For nearly four decades Hollywood historian Marc Wanamaker has indulged his passion: collectingphotographs from location film shoots in Los Angeles dating back to the early 1900s.

Now, he hopes his new book featuring more than 200 vintage images, including Harold Lloyd dangling off the side of a building above 8th and Spring streets in the 1930 film “Feet First,” will remind the film industry of the city’s rich heritage at a time when much of production is migrating elsewhere.

Wanamaker, a film history consultant and former curator of the Hollywood Heritage Museum, has collected about 250,000 still photographs that document the countless hotels, ranches, parks and beaches across Los Angeles that supplied the backdrop for some of Hollywood’s greatest films.

For additional photographs, more of the story and other news, click here for the LA Times Company Town.

Network at CSN with Students' in Communication

The Association of Students in Communication will be having its first membership meeting of the semester this Friday at 2:00 at the W. Charleston and Henderson campuses through video conferencing.  ASC is a great opportunity for all students to get involved, be leaders and attend events that will help them as they prepare for their career and future.  This semester we will be planning our annual Road Trip to Hollywood and invite all students to attend the meeting to learn more about ASC and its opportunities.

Contact me if you have any questions!

Thank you!

Michele R. Fogg

ASC Faculty Advisor

Communication Instructor

Department of Communication

College of Southern Nevada

HN C-201-C

702-651-3077

michele.fogg@csn.edu

Pad Computer competition heats up

In the US the Apple iPad has 3/4 of the tablet market, with Android not as flexible and applications still lacking. Google is set to unveil a new tablet that will "be more flexible" interacting with televisions, computers and cell phones. Apple still has its interactivity with iPhones, iPads and other devices, and an ability to run on Windows faster than any Windows machine (but Windows has yet to make any significant mark on the tablet computer market). All things considered Apple's targets are international and profits. International sales are outpacing the US launch and the price structure and Aps store both make the iPad very profitable. Most other systems are designed to please cellular carriers and are based on the primarily US system used by Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. The Apple iPad is designed to stand alone, or work with AT&T's faster system (it is also being sold compatible with Verizon's G4 pitch). As with all consumer electronics, trends are fleeting and the next new thing is always ahead, usually from Apple.

LA Football, Keep Movies American, Steward passes Obrien, and Codes of Conduct at Comcast

From the LA Times Company Town Blog and other sources

All that's missing is a team. Entertainment giant AEG is expected to announce Tuesday that Farmers Insurance has agreed to a pricey naming-rights deal for a new downtown stadium that would house an NFL franchise. The Los Angeles Times says the 30-year contract is valued at $700 million. Of course, Los Angeles still doesn't have a football team to play in what would be called Farmers Field, and many question the logic of jamming a stadium into an already crowded L.A. Live complex. If you lived in LA when the Rams and Raiders pulled out, you may wonder what's changed. Plus LA is a TV market, where fans are fans of teams from coast to coast and use to outdoor cookouts and Sunday TV viewing parties instead of fighting traffic and crowds to pay too much to see a game in person. Can LA be loyal to a football team, after turning their back on the Rams and the Raiders?

Union Football Fights: Is CBS anti-player? The National Football League Players Association says it has had an ad rejected by CBS that it wanted to run during a college game. The NFLPA is, of course, at odds with the NFL over a new labor agreement. CBS, of course, pays the NFL hundreds of millions to carry football. The NFLPA, of course, thinks that relationship is just a little too cozy and not fair to the players. CBS, of course, didn't get back to Advertising Age, with a comment on why it passed on the ad. We expect, of course, that CBS will eventually say it does not accept certain types of issue advertising.

Fight Outsourcing at the Academy Awards. We sent computers, TV's and everything else overseas to be manufactured, so why not films?Let the trash talk begin. Now that "The King's Speech" has emerged as a favorite to do well on Oscar night and probably take Best Picture, the subtle efforts to derail that train will start. The New York Times observed that an ad touting "True Grit" noted that it was the "most honored American movie" of the year — "lest anyone forget that a vote for 'The King’s Speech' is a vote to send the top Oscar offshore."

Portman's a lock. The Daily Beast notes that actresses playing "crazy chicks" usually clean up during awards season. TDB cited Kathy Bates (Misery), Nicole Kidman (The Hours), Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted), or Jessica Lange (Blue Sky) as proof of their theory. We could probably find five examples of times when an actress playing a "crazy chick" didn't win, that would be a crazy waste of time, as "Swan Queen" seems a lock.

See, Sheen's woes are actually creating work! With Charlie Sheen out of action and CBS's "Two and a Half Men" on indefinite hiatus, the network has ordered more episodes of sitcoms "Mike and Molly" and "Rules of Engagement" to fill some of the void, says the Hollywood Reporter. There has been lots of griping that Sheen's antics are costing people work, but clearly he is helping some people out, just not the ones who work on his own show.

Stewart passes O'Brien. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart claimed the late night top spot in viewers and key demos, beating TBS's Conan O'Brien. In other cable news, Piers Morgan started strong, but his ratings have taken a huge hit. More on the numbers from the Wrap.

NBC logo to come down in NYC. Comcast is losing the NBC logo from its stationary and it's buildings, but keeping the iconic peacock for the broadcast network, fueling rumors that the name of the network could shift to Universal or a brand new image, despite the storied history of NBC. Focus groups say that traditional broadcast network names are seen as "old", "historic" and other shrouded negatives by the upcoming Internet viewing generation.

Conquering Comcast NBC: 

Now that he is president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, Steve Burke is giving up his title as chief operating officer of Comcast Corp. The move had been expected, but Comcast -- which closed over the weekend on its deal to acquire a 51% stake in General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal -- made it official in a filing at the Securities & Exchange Commission.  

Burke is not completely cutting his ties to Comcast. He will remain an executive vice president there. 

Also given a new title was Neil Smit, the president of Comcast Cable Communications, who has been named an executive vice president of Comcast Corp. as well.

Codes of Conduct:  It might be time for Comcast Corp. to rewrite some of its code of conduct, now that it owns NBC Universal.  Among the actions that can create a hostile work environment, the Comcast guide sites "displaying sexually suggestive materials in the workplace or on Company computers or mobile devices." But it is ironic how big media companies have these very specific rules about how employees are supposed to conduct themselves while at the same time making TV shows that often violate those very rules. Oh and the company also frowns upon "pursuing a romantic relationship with a co-worker who has indicated that he or she is not interested." That rule, if followed by writers and producers, would just about kill the premise of every workplace comedy on television.

Running out of numbers. You know how every day it seems as if there's a new area code? Well, there is soon going to be a shortage of IP (Internet protocol) addresses. Fear not, a new system is in the works, but it is very complicated. In fact, it's too complicated for me to explain here. More on the IP shortage from the Wall Street Journal.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: It's easier for a woman to get a board seat on a Fortune 500 company or join the clergy than direct a Hollywood movie. The picture's not good for California'svisual effects business.

From the LA Times and other sources. Click here for Company Town.

Amazon wants to battle Netflix. Time Warner has strong finish. Rupert's latest big bet.

Amazon wants to battle Netflix. Time Warner has strong finish. Rupert's latest big bet.

LA Times Company Town Entertainment Industry News

The Skinny: Are you reading this or looking at Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper?  It's all about new media today. Amazon wants to take on Netflix while Comcast strikes a multi-platform deal with Time Warner.

Rupert's latest gamble. Wednesday marks the debut of News Corp.'s Daily, a digital newspaper designed specifically for Apple's iPad. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has been very intrigued with the iPad and thinks it could be the platform in which a pay model for news content can be built. The challenge will be convincing consumers -- who have been spoiled by the decision of most news organizations to throw their content online for free -- to shell out some cash. One has to think ultimately all news services will have to figure out a pay model for the web or ... well let's not go there. Analysis of News Corp.'s latest adventure from the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, the New York Times is apparently working on its own digital paper, but theirs is driven by social media sites such as Twitter. Users would get stories based on people they follow on social networks. More on that from TechCrunch. 

Closing the year with a bang. Time Warner Inc., parent of Warner Bros., Turner Broadcasting and HBO, released its fourth-quarter results Wednesday morning and said its net income jumped 22% to $769 million and revenue improved by 8.3% to $7.81 billion. The media giant cited strong advertising at TNT and TBS as a key driver. On the movie side, film revenue was up almost 10% to $3.64 billion, but profit fell about 2% because of weaker DVD sales and promotional costs associated with the latest Harry Potter movie. Time Warner also boosted its stock buyback authorization to $5 billion. More on the results from Bloomberg.

Amazon's coming! Lookout Netflix, looks like Amazon wants to get into your business and launch an online movie service. The Los Angeles Times reported that Amazon has been meeting with studios and independent producers looking for deals for product. Netflix, which has more than 20 million subscribers, has become the envy of other online video distributors and a stone in the shoe of media companies such as Time Warner's HBO. More on Amazon's plans from Variety.

Every Mistake Imaginable. That's an old nickname for EMI, the music label that Citigroup on Tuesday struck a deal to take control of the company, which has been challenged by a heavy debt load. The Wall Street Journal says Citigroup will now try to find a buyer for EMI, which still has a big catalogue that includes the Beatles and the Beastie Boys as well as Frank Sinatra.  

Comcast and Time Warner make nice. Comcast Corp. struck a wide-ranging deal with Time Warner Inc. for carriage of the media giant's various cable networks including TBS and TNT across multiple platforms. The deal is indicative of how big media wants to make sure that their business models are protected as content migrates to the Web. Recaps and analysis from the New York Timesand Los Angeles Times.

Location, location. location. 

When producers of the ABC game show “Downfall” needed a building from which to hurl dishwashers, gumball machines and other “prizes,” they settled on a warehouse on the east side of downtown Los Angeles. 

The six-story building on Terminal Street, near the corner of 7th and Alameda streets, was among the most popular on-location filming sites in the region in 2010, along with a long-shuttered hospital in Boyle Heights and a faux Route 66 pit stop on the edge of the Mojave Desert, according to a recent survey by the nonprofit group FilmL.A. Inc., which handles film permits for location filming in city of L.A. and much of L.A. County. The data track filming done outside the major studios on city streets and on soundstages that aren’t certified by the fire department. 

Topping the list of the year’s 10 most popular sites was Griffith Park, a favorite of location scouts because of its diverse terrain that spans more than 4,210 acres, drawing shoots from such TV shows as CBS’ “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.” For the full story to to the LA Times Company Town.

Cape takes fall. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that NBC has cut the order of its ambitious mid-season show "The Cape" to 10 episodes. The show started out with decent -- for NBC -- ratings, but since then the show has taken a dip. In the meantime, "Harry's Law" continues to defy logic and bring in OK numbers although the demographics are similar to what "Andy Griffith" reruns get on TV Land.

Kennedys find home. "The Kennedys," the miniseries that History Network's owners wimped out on airing after getting pressure from the guardians of the legacy of Camelot, will be shown on ReelzChannel, which is a channel that most likely you never watch. More on the deal from the Hollywood Reporter.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Mary McNamara on Al Jazeera's coverage of the Egyptian uprising. Michael Hiltzik on the short memories of those pleading for football in Los Angeles.

For more news go to the Company Town Blog at the LA Times (click her).