The first San Fernando Valley Award for Nonfiction, presented by the Delmar T. Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge, has been given to author and longtime Valley public relations executive Martin M. Cooper.

Cooper received the honor for his book, “Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970.”

“The award was conceived by the Oviatt’s Friends of the Library to recognize important contributions to nonfiction writing about the San Fernando Valley, and to promote research and writing related to the region,” said Mark Stover, dean of the Oviatt Library.

“Historical research and retrospective journalism are the keys to unlocking the mysteries of the past,” Stover continued. “With his book, ‘Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970,’ Martin Cooper has created a marvelous work that will bring back memories for some of us and open up new vistas for others.”

Cooper will be honored at a special reception later this year.

“‘Read All About It!’ was originally conceived as an adjunct to the Los Angeles Public Library’s desire to raise funds to catalog and digitize its collection of 70,000 photographs from the now-defunct Valley Times newspaper,” he said.

Cooper took the opportunity to explore a truly eventful time period in the San Fernando Valley’s history — post-World War II migration to the cusp of the “Brady Bunch” era — and turned his findings into the book.

“The San Fernando Valley, with a population of almost 2 million people, has a colorful history and a bright future,” Stover said. “It has played an important role in the evolution of the city of Los Angeles and the surrounding region. Growth in the population, in industry and in the art and culture make the Valley a rich source of material for nonfiction literature. There are no other awards for books specifically about the San Fernando Valley, so it makes perfect sense for CSUN’s Oviatt Library, located at the largest university in the region, to honor writers and researchers with this prize.”

Cooper is donating his proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley, of which he is chair.

In addition to “Read All About It!,” Cooper has written four other books and more than 100 magazine articles, newspaper columns and essays. He is active in the community, having  received a 2014 Fernando Award for his lifetime of volunteerism and philanthropy. He also teaches marketing, strategic planning and public relations at UCLA Extension, where he was named the extension’s Instructor of the Year in 2011.

The Oviatt Library is located at the center of the California State University, Northridge campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. The library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley. For more information about the library or its hours, visit its website at http://library.csun.edu or call (818) 677-2285.

A complete listing of library events can be found on the Exhibitions and Events page on the library website, or by calling (818) 677-2638.

March 14, or 3/14, is celebrated around the world as Pi Day. Pi, the Greek letter π, is the symbol used in mathematics to present a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, approximately 3.14159.

California State University, Northridge is celebrating Pi Day by inviting scientists and engineers to meet with faculty and students to share valuable insights into their careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). They also will discuss the power of mathematics and the role it plays in our everyday lives.

“The STEM: Education Challenges and Career Opportunities — Networking Opportunity and Mixer” is scheduled to take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in CSUN’s Orange Grove Bistro, located at the corner of Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue. The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by CSUN’s Delmar T. Oviatt Library and the Bonita J. Campbell Endowment for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).

“We hope the evening will be a great experience for everyone,” said Jennifer Coronado, chair of WISE advisory board. “In addition to helping educate university students about the myriad professional opportunities that are available to them in the STEM fields, it is our chance to show how we are surrounded by math every day without realizing it.”

The WISE endowment, established in 2009 by manufacturing systems engineering and management professor Bonita Campbell, organizes events that celebrate and promote women’s achievements in the fields of science and engineering.

While the Pi Day event is open to the public, guests must be 18 years of age or older to attend. Reservations are requested, and the deadline is March 8. Reservations can be made by calling (818) 677-2638 or emailing wise@csun.edu. Free parking for the event is available in Lot G1, located at the corner of Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue.

Information about all Oviatt Library events can be found on the library’s website, http://library.csun.edu or by calling (818) 677-2638.

The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley. For more information about the library or its hours, visit its website or call (818) 677-2285.

Amina Hassan presented and discussed her book Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist on Feb. 29 at California State University, Northridge, in the last event in the campus’ series celebrating Black History Month.

Miller was a civil rights attorney and journalist from the 1940s through the early 1960s. He worked on cases of housing discrimination and argued alongside Thurgood Marshall in the Shelley v. Kraemer case before the United States Supreme Court. The landmark case held that courts could not enforce racial covenants on real estate.

“His reputation as a skilled and brilliant attorney grew from local prominence to national recognition,” Hassan said. “Miller became known as the go-to guy if you were turned away from an ice skating rink, a movie house or a restaurant [based on race].”

Judge Robin Miller Sloan, Miller’s granddaughter who is following in his footsteps, participated in the event.

Her grandfather was a lifelong defender “freedoms, principles and ideas,” Sloan said. “When my grandfather spoke on any subject, people listened.”

Sloan was only 7 years old when her grandfather passed away, but she said she still remembers him vividly. She shared one specific life lesson he taught her and her brother about being humble:

“No one is better than you, and you are no better than anyone,” Sloan said.

The Delmar T. Oviatt Library is the core of California State University, Northridge. Faculty and staff members keep it running smoothly to ensure that students receive the resources and assistance they need. The library is also composed of many student employees that are the backbone for faculty and staff.

On March 30, the 2016 Library Student Employee Scholarship reception was held at the Orange Grove Bistro to award 21 student employees with more than $20,000 in aid to help ease the financial weight of college expenses.

Scholarship recipients and family members of the recipients were afforded a unique opportunity to thank the donors that make the annual awards possible at the reception.

Eva Cohen, a multimedia production major, is one of the six recipients of the Ann and David Perkins Scholarship.

“I felt very happy and blessed that they [donors] enjoyed my letter,” Cohen said. “I am planning to use the money to buy Adobe Creative Cloud, which is important for my major.”

Donors Ann and David Perkins are retired librarians and through their donations they remain connected to the Oviatt Library.

“We both feel that student support is very important, especially with the increase in tuition and other educational expenses,” Ann Perkins said. “We plan to continue our support through scholarships for Oviatt Library student assistants.”

Out of the 21 scholarship recipients, two students were awarded two scholarships each, which means double the financial aid.

“I was incredibly surprised, super happy and completely grateful,” said Anastasia Peck, a third-year physical therapy student and recipient of the scholarship. “I first got one [scholarship] and then the other one came in a little bit later. I am just so grateful for the donations.”

Peck was awarded the Friends of the Library Scholarship and the Dr. Bonita J. Campbell WISE Scholarship.

Librarian Emeritus Virginia Elwood-Akers, donor to the Friends scholarship, said “I think that giving money to people who are trying to get an education is the best thing that people can do with their money.”

California State University, Northridge’s Department of Theatre held a free performance of the immersive Greek tragedy Antigone on April 7 in front of the Oviatt Library.

Antigone tells the story of a young woman whose brother dies in a civil war. In her mission to honor him with a proper funeral, she goes against King Creon, who rules that his body should remain unburied on the battlefield.

Directed by CSUN professor Anamarie Dwyer, the outdoor performance was the group’s final show of Antigone, after presenting eight performances in the VPAC Experimental Theatre in February. It was the first time performing an immersive play outdoors for most of the student actors, who had to improvise between the outside noises and students skateboarding through scenes.

“It was definitely a unique experience with lots of energy,” said Ryan Lisman, a psychology senior who played the role of King Creon. “We had to speak much louder than inside [a theatre], but doing it outside was really fun. I enjoyed seeing all the different people.”

Theatre major and Puerto Rican exchange student Adrianna Ivelisse, who played the starring role of Antigone, said the performance reached a more diverse array of students who might not have attended a traditional theatre show. She prefers indoor performances because of the atmosphere, but said she enjoyed overcoming the challenges of the outdoor experience.

“You improve quick thinking and quick acting,” she said. “You have to keep the characters’ emotions fresh and not recycled, so you have to change a lot of things you’ve prepared.”

California State University, Northridge’s Institute for Sustainability hosted a Family Earth Day celebration in collaboration with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at the Oviatt Library on April 23. K-12 students from local schools showcased their projects on sustainable energy and water consumption and enjoyed family activities.

Martin M. Cooper at a book signing event. Photo courtesy of the Oviatt Library.

The Delmar T. Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge is honoring the recipient of its inaugural San Fernando Valley Award for Nonfiction with a special reception and award presentation on Wednesday, July 13, at the university.

The reception for Martin M. Cooper, author of “Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970,” is scheduled to take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Orange Grove Bistro, located at the southeast corner of the campus at Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue.

“The award was conceived by the Oviatt’s Friends of the Library to recognize important contributions to nonfiction writing about the San Fernando Valley, and to promote research and writing related to the region,” said Mark Stover, dean of the Oviatt Library. “Historical research and retrospective journalism are the keys to unlocking the mysteries of the past. With his book, ‘Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970,’ Martin Cooper has created a marvelous work that will bring back memories for some of us and open up new vistas for others.”

Cooper will present insights and excerpts from his work, as well as sign copies of his book, at the reception. Copies of “Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970” will be available for purchase.

“Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970” spans an eventful 25 years, from the postwar migration to the Valley to the cusp of the “Brady Bunch” era. When asked about his inspiration, Cooper said the book was conceived as an adjunct to the Los Angeles Public Library’s desire to raise funds to catalog and digitize its collection of 70,000 photographs from the now-defunct Valley Times newspaper. A portion of the proceeds of the book go to the library.

In addition to “Read All About It! The Valley Times: 1946-1970,” Cooper has authored four other books and more than 100 magazine articles, newspaper columns and essays. He is active in community and civic affairs, having received a 2014 Fernando Award for his lifetime of volunteerism and philanthropy. He also teaches marketing, strategic planning and public relations at UCLA Extension, where he was named the extension’s Instructor of the Year in 2011.

The reception is free and open to the public. Reservations and complementary parking information are available online at http://library.csun.edu/events/sfv-award-2016?type=event or by calling (818) 677-2638. A complete listing of Oviatt Library events can be found on the Exhibitions and Events page on the library website, or by calling (818) 677-2638.

The Oviatt Library is located at the center of the California State University, Northridge campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. General campus parking is $6, and daily parking permits may be purchased at booths or online at The Permit Store. The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley. For more information about the library or its hours, please visit the website or call (818) 677-2285.

Duran’s friends and family gather for a picture at the TCC Dedication.From left to right, Duran’s husband, Rick Nupoll; her brother-in-law Scott Lyons; her sister Mary Grace Duran; TCC Librarian Mara Houdyshell and Armand Duran, her brother. Photo by Joshua Valle.

The Teacher Curriculum Center (TCC)‘s collection in California State University, Northridge’s Delmar T. Oviatt Library has long served as a resource for teachers throughout the region, providing them with sometimes hard to get teaching materials for learning levels ranging from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.

Last month, the center’s collection was renamed after the late Karin J. Duran, who served as the center’s director for 32 years before passing away in 2010.

Her husband Rick Nupoll said it was fitting to name the center’s collection after his wife, a CSUN alumna who dedicated her time at the university to making sure teachers who often have little, if any, budget for classroom resources knew they had a place to go for help at the Oviatt Library.

“The TCC was Karin’s baby,” Nupoll said. “The Library, the Teacher Curriculum Center, being a librarian, the campus — they were all her passion.”

The center was established in 1978 — then called the Instructional Materials Laboratory—as a resource for many students studying to be teachers at the university. During her tenure, Duran nurtured it into a valuable resource that not only provides support to CSUN’s education students, but also to teachers in classrooms throughout the region.

“The Teacher Curriculum Center helps bring teaching to life,” said Luann Rocha, the Oviatt Library’s director of development. “The center offers blocks and lesson planners for K-12 teachers.”

The center is located in the basement of the Oviatt Library, and the collection features more than 26,000 resources available to be used in the classroom, from textbooks and idea books to educational kits and games. There are even videos and supplemental teaching materials available. Materials are offered in various print and electronic formats.

Library officials estimate that an average of 1,271 people use the center each week.

The center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., on Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 7:45 p.m.

For more information about the Karin J. Duran collection, call (818) 677-2638.

The Friends of the Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge is accepting submissions for the inaugural San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction. Photo by Lee Choo.

The Friends of the Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge is putting out a call for submissions for its inaugural biennial San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction.

The honor was created to recognize the important role the San Fernando Valley plays in the larger story of Los Angeles and beyond. The Friends of the Oviatt Library created a similar award in 2015 to shine a spotlight on nonfiction writing about the Valley, as well as to promote research and writing related to the region.

“The San Fernando Valley has been — and continues to be — home to an impressively diverse and prolific population of creative writers,” said Mark Stover, dean of CSUN’s Delmar T. Oviatt Library. “When incorporating our region as a backdrop or as some kind of influential force in the stories that they tell, these writers often provide a view or experience of the San Fernando Valley that is wholly new — even for readers who were born and raised in the Valley.”

Stover said the fiction award was created to recognize compelling works about or that contain a significant reference to the San Fernando Valley.

With the creation of this award, the Friends of the Oviatt Library will be handing out literary honors every year, alternating years between the award for fiction and the award for nonfiction.

Eligible works of fiction may be submitted by the author, publisher or any member of the public. All entries must be received no later than Dec. 12, 2016. Submissions must be original, fiction publications produced in book format. The subject of the works must relate directly to the San Fernando Valley.

The winner of the San Fernando Valley Award will receive $1,000 and be honored at a reception where he or she will be invited to read from and discuss his or her work.

For additional information about the San Fernando Valley Awards for Fiction and Nonfiction, for complete guidelines for the awards or to download a submission application, visit the website http://library.csun.edu/Friends/san-fernando-valley-award-fiction. Those interested may also call (818) 677-2638.

The Oviatt Library serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley. For more information about the library or its hours, visit its website or call (818) 677-2285.

California State University, Northridge students, faculty and staff gathered at the Plaza del Sol in the University Student Union on Nov. 10 to celebrate CSUN’s veterans and allies.

The Veterans Resource Center (VRC) organized the event, providing free food, music, games and prizes such as T-shirts and water bottles. Some veterans challenged visitors to a pushup competition and showcased military gear. Many students took selfies with veterans dressed in their military clothes.

“For us, the primary mission of Veterans Week is to celebrate people who served the country, and to raise awareness that we have students here on campus who are veterans,” said Patrina Croisdale, coordinator of the VRC.

Other featured events during CSUN’s We ❤ Our Veterans Week included a 5K run and display of American flags — as a memorial to fallen soldiers — in front of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, a VRC open house and two veteran ally workshops.

The Delmar T. Oviatt Library and the Bonita J. Campbell Endowment for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) are teaming up once again to bring California State University, Northridge a two-part Pi Day celebration. The event will be held on March 14, from 1:59 to 8 p.m. in the University Student Union’s Grand Salon.

“In the past, we held this event at the Orange Grove Bistro. We tried to keep it small because we didn’t want attendees to feel cramped,” said math professor Kellie Evans. “This year, we’ve moved it to the University Student Union Grand Salon, where we’ll have more space for guests and hands-on activities.”

Evans also said she and WISE hope the event inspires students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“We hope this year’s Pi Day encourages students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, especially underrepresented students, like women and minorities,” Evans said.

The clubs, games, prizes and pie/pi portion of the event will be from 1:59 to 5 p.m. The reason for the unique start time is pi-related. Pi’s first six digits are 3.14159… Some of the clubs expected to attend include the Math Club, CSUN Matabots and CSUN Women in Science.

The second part of the event is the Networking Mixer. The mixer will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Evans emphasized that this mixer is an opportunity for students to talk to STEM professionals and educators.

“The STEM professionals who will attend this event look forward and are eager to get to know CSUN students, so students shouldn’t be shy. They should approach professionals they want to talk to,” Evans said.

Event organizers request reservations by Wednesday, March 8. Reservations can be made by contacting Alexandria Chavez at (818) 677-2638 or by emailing wise@csun.edu. This event is open to the public and free of charge.

Free parking is provided for the first 50 reservations. Guests who register in time to receive free parking will be able to pick up their parking pass on Tuesday, March 7 at the the Library Administration front desk, which is located on the third floor of the Oviatt Library.

For additional information call (818) 677-2638 or visit http://library.csun.edu/WISE.

California State University, Northridge launched its first virtual and augmented reality competition on March 3.

Students, faculty and staff members gathered together in the Ferman Presentation Room of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library for the kickoff event of Visual and Augmented Reality Jam (VARJAM), a competition where prospective students from all majors across campus work in teams to develop projects focused on a variety of concepts, from education to entertainment, using the latest virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.

“VARJAM is going to immerse anyone involved in the competition in engaging ways to embrace any audience,” said Tom White, executive director of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) at CSUN. “With the knowledge that they learn here, they’re going to be able to connect with any group that they ever come in contact with in a way that causes that group to think and believe in certain ways.”

Los Angeles is one of the big players in VR and AR technology, which is predicted to become a $150 billion industry by 2020. VR takes the viewer out of the real world and places them into a virtual world, while AR overlays virtual information onto the real world, said Jacob Enfield, multimedia option head and leader of the VARJAM project.

“Everybody is starting a VR company, there’s tons of them, and they’re looking for somebody to help them do what they are trying to do,” Enfield said. “We’re providing them a talent pool, if we can develop that.”

During the event, students learned about competition guidelines for submitting a two-minute multimedia presentation describing their project and how to gain access to the VARJAM Canvas site for resources or discussion boards. Students were also able to try out a small selection of VR and AR equipment firsthand.

Will Goldstein, a second-year electronic media management major, tested out the Google Tilt Brush VR game at VARJAM.

“It was crazy,” Goldstein said. “It takes you somewhere else. I think the next step is taking it from moving in a space and moving your body to taking conscious commands straight from the brain into virtual reality – that’d be really cool, just to be able to think it.”

Students and attendees also had the opportunity to meet with sponsors from the LACI@CSUN and BixelExchange. One requirement for students interested in joining the VARJAM competition was to have one member of their team attend the kickoff event.

Ed Beres, LACI director of university relations, said the winning team from VARJAM would have the opportunity to present their project to a panel of VR and AR experts and share their thoughts on the industry during an event on April 21 at the LACI headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

The VARJAM 2017 registration deadline for student teams was March 6 at 11:59 p.m.

The next event will be on March 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Extended Learning University Building. Faculty and students are encouraged to attend. Workshops will focus on training and teaching the basics of creating and editing photospheres, virtual reality, augmented reality and 360 videos as well as attend a presentation on the art of storytelling by White. Students may choose to attend any or all of the workshops to help them submit their strongest work.

For more information on registration guidelines and important dates, visit www.csun.edu/varjam

The Delmar T. Ovitatt Library and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) partnered up again to bring California State University, Northridge a Pi Day celebration on March 14.

Attendees experienced a multitude of activities, including a three-dimensional printer, more than 15 flavors of free pie, a “making pie” demonstration and networking with CSUN organizations such as CSUN Women in Science, Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research (BUILD PODER) and CSUN VEX Robotics Club, colloquially known as the Matabots.

CSUN Women in Science had participants use pi to find the volume of live sea urchins—which they had at their table in a small bowl of water. CSUN Women in Science also had dry urchins and wanted participants to guess how many urchins (live and dry) would fit into the pie they had at the table.

BUILD PODER, a research program for undergraduates funded by the National Institutes of Health, had a table encouraging students to apply to the program in January 2018.

Gabriela Rivera, a public health major and member of BUILD PODER,  advised students to consider being involved in research.

“Although we may have come to college to have fun, we ultimately came to receive higher education,” Rivera said. “BUILD PODER offers a community of emotional and financial support as well as personal growth.”

The CSUN VEX Robotics Club, which recently won a robotics tournament held at University of Southern California, showcased its robot and let audience members control the robot.

Adrian Castellon, president of the CSUN VEX Robotics Club, encouraged students of all majors to think about joining the Matabots.

“Our team is actually composed of different majors. We are not limited to just mechanical engineering or electrical engineering, or even just engineering,” Castellon said. “We have members who are majoring in merchandise, marketing and a journalism major.”

Although the Oviatt Library and WISE sponsored this event, Alexandria Chavez, a WISE intern, was largely responsible for organizing this event and hoped that attendees had fun.

“I hope that everyone had fun while learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

California State University, Northridge’s Friends of the Oviatt Library hosted Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and UCLA’s Aratani Endowed Chair, on March 17 to talk about Executive Order 9066.

Executive Order 9066 was signed and issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. The order resulted in the forced internment of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast, many of whom were U.S. citizens.

According to Hirabayashi, more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans (primarily first and second generation) from the mainland went through the internment camps. However, Japanese descendants all over the world were subject to discrimination.

“[Internment camps and forced removal] happened from 1941 to 1946. We have to remember that there were Nikkei, or people of Japanese ancestry, brought in from territories like Hawaii and Alaska,” Hirabayashi said. “There were also Japanese Latin Americans subject to kidnapping, and even orphans were pulled into this operation.”

Hirabayashi used the 40-minute lecture to speak on how and why mass incarceration happened. He began by talking about national security during World War II and how the United States handled what the American government perceived as a threat.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, G-2 Army Intelligence and the Office of Naval Intelligence began surveillance on Japanese-Americans,” Hirabayashi said. “Each agency independently began to develop lists of people and organizations that were seen as suspicious. Visiting Japan, having visitors from Japan or even doing things that were considered Japanese — these were all bases to be put on a list.”

These lists, Hirabayashi said, were compiled during World War II, but were put together prior to U.S. involvement. After the country’s involvement, according to Hirabayashi, protocol changed.

“The justice department consolidated these various lists and picked up around 1,000 [people], primarily men, primarily first-generation leaders of the Japanese community,” Hirabayashi said.

“A lot of Japanese-American newspapers, schools, banks and enterprises were shut down. The FBI was empowered to do search and seizure because it was a question of national security,” he added.

Hirabayashi also noted that there were “key officials who doubted the necessity for the internment of Japanese-Americans.

“J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, felt [the agency] had all the bad guys after the initial roundup after Pearl Harbor,” Hirabayashi said. “Francis J. Biddle, the U.S. attorney general, felt that these policies were unconstitutional. Even Eleanor Roosevelt tried to convince [FDR] otherwise.”

Hirabayashi concluded the lecture by outlining three factors that led to the passing of Executive Order 9066.

“It was racial stereotypes that led to prejudice and discrimination,” Hirabayashi said. “It was also the crisis, the war, which led to the climate of fear; and it was, perhaps most notably, the failure of political leaders to put a stop to the discrimination.”

Novelist Antoine Wilson has been named the recipient of California State University, Northridge’s inaugural San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction.

Author of “Panorama City” and recipient of San Fernando Valley Award for Fiction, Antoine Wilson. Photo taken by Ward Robinson.

The honor was created by the Friends of the Oviatt Library at CSUN to recognize the role the San Fernando Valley plays in the larger story of Los Angeles. Wilson will receive the honor for his book “Panorama City,” in which the San Fernando Valley community of Panorama City played a prominent role.

“The San Fernando Valley has been, and continues to be, home to an impressively diverse and prolific population of creative writers,” says Oviatt Library Dean Mark Stover. “When incorporating our region as a backdrop or some kind of influential force in the stories that they tell, writers often provide a view or experience of the San Fernando Valley that is wholly new — even for readers who were born and raised in the valley.”

Wilson said he was pleased to receive the distinction.

“I was delighted to hear that I had won the award,” said Wilson. “I am honored to be recognized for my depiction of the San Fernando Valley all the more because the setting is filtered through my narrator’s rather unique perspective.”

Inspired by the Spanish novel, Don Quixote, Wilson wrote “Panorama City” with the idea of creating a huge, contemporary road comedy novel.

Wilson said his story ended up straying from his initial inspiration. Its plot became about a man who recorded his life story for his unborn son because he believed he was dying. The main character’s tale is conveyed through a tape recorder and is described as a journey of “self-determination, from village idiot to man of the world.”

Wilson will receive the honor at a presentation ceremony at the university’s Orange Grove Bistro on June 8, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The author will present insights and excerpts from his work and sign copies of his books, which will be available for purchase during the event.

For additional information, please visit the Friends of the Oviatt Library and the San Fernando Valley Awards for Fiction and Non-Fiction. Information about all library events can be found at the Exhibitions & Events page on the library’s website or by calling (818) 677-2638.

CSUN’s Delmar T. Oviatt Library. Photo by Lee Choo.

Copyright can be an intimidating legal issue for creative-minded people. A thorough understanding of its intricacies can prove invaluable to visual artists’ success.

The Delmar T. Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge will aim to foster greater understanding of this topic during its annual copyright symposiumon Wednesday, April 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room, located on the garden level in the Oviatt Library. This year’s event, dubbed “Visualize This! The Creative Side of Copyright,” will focus on informing visual artists how to effectively navigate copyright law.

National and regional copyright experts will spend the day discussing best practices and topics, including intellectual property, the continual growth of online access to photography and digital media, and fair use — the right to legally use copyrighted material without paying or securing permission from the copyright holder, in certain circumstances. Speakers also will address how copyright applies to more recent creative innovations, such as 3-D printing technology.

“We hope that attendees will gain confidence in understanding copyright and fair-use guidelines [for] using visual images in their scholarly works,” said Dean Arnold, the Oviatt Library’s music and media supervisor.

Featured speakers will include Kenneth Crews, a practicing attorney and faculty member at Columbia Law School; Martin Brennan, a copyright and licensing librarian at the University of California, Los Angeles Young Research Library; CSUN English professor Charles Hatfield; Todd Bigelow, a lecturer in CSUN’s Department of Art; and CSUN art history professor Peri Klemm.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to RSVP on the library’s website by Friday, March 31. The Oviatt Library is located at the center of the CSUN campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. Visitor parking passes are $8 and can be purchased on campus or online at the Permit Store.

For more information or to RSVP, please visit the symposium’s event page at http://library.csun.edu/events/copyright-2017 or contact Dean Arnold at (818) 677-2211.

California State University, Northridge students and faculty came together for the first time to experience the world of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) at the 2017 VARJAM competition in the Delmar T. Oviatt Library’s Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room on April 7.

During VARJAM, the 10 competing student teams demonstrated the VR and AR projects they have been working on since early March to fellow CSUN students, faculty and judges from various VR companies within the technology industry.

“It was great to see the VARJAM students consider such innovative and real-world applications for the use of virtual and augmented reality,” said Hilary Baker, CSUN vice president for information technology and chief information officer.

To qualify for a spot in the VARJAM competition, student teams from all majors were required to register for the event and attend the workshops before submitting a two-minute multimedia presentation explaining the basics of their projects.

The winning teams were selected based on the judges’ evaluations of the students’ creativity and innovation, the effective use of VR and AR technology and the multimedia presentation’s quality. Additionally, one student team was chosen based on an online popular vote via CSUN’s Portfolium, an electronic portfolio network for students and alumni.

Three teams were picked from both the VR and AR categories.

From the VR section, third place went to Classify, a new way to explore the CSUN campus and discover new options such as schedules, classes and events on campus. Second place went to CSUN 3D, which allows students and faculty to get to know the campus by exploring its areas and buildings without leaving their rooms. First place went to Adventure VR.

Adventure VR was developed and created by Miranda Taylor, an accounting major who wanted to help those with disabilities, the elderly and those who cannot venture outside to experience nature by bringing it to them.

“I love nature; it’s just something that’s so incredible and not everyone gets to experience it,” Taylor said. “I work with a child who has a mental disability and I was thinking about it: He’s never going to be able to go out into nature and really see what it’s like because of his condition. I might not be able to fix that for him, but if I can help other young children or individuals with disabilities experience nature … that’s something I wanted to do for people.”

From the AR section, third place went to Color Magic, an interactive coloring tool for children ages seven and older to enhance their learning experience through 3D models. Color Magic also won the popular vote. Second place went to GSTAR, a nutrition aide that allows users to input their health needs and scan grocery store aisles to find the best choices for them based on nutritional facts that appear on their phones in a visual graphic. First place went to CSUN StrengthsQuest.

CSUN StrengthsQuest was developed and created by a team of four CSUN students — Gabriel Almendarez, Gordon Greer, Marilyn Hightower and Guy Imberman. The team wanted to create a way for students and staff members to access advice on gaining confidence and motivation in their academic careers based on their strengths.

“Our inspiration was the psychological personality assessment called StrengthsQuest. It was created by the Gallup organization, and because we work at the Career Center, we are very close with that,” Hightower said. “We consulted career counselors about StrengthsQuest and used that information to create this app.”

Baker announced that each of the winning teams has the opportunity to attend two different conferences — The Future of a Virtual and Augmented World at Bixel Exchange on April 13 and the CSUN VARJAM Industry Forum at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator headquarters in downtown Los Angeles on April 21.

The winning VARJAM teams will be featured at both events and have opportunities to meet with experts from Sony Pictures, Google, Applied-VR, Legend-3D and many more.

Check out all the VARJAM project submissions on Portfolium.

Lora Rosman’s passion and ambition motivated her to pursue a major in psychology with a minor in American Indian Studies, to become a marriage and family counselor who travels to assist indigenous communities across the country.

Art major Eduardo Chavez fell in love with art in high school and hopes to become an animator, to create images where everyone can be reminded that they matter.

Initially unsure of her career path, sociology major Mayra Rodriguez discovered a love of advocacy for others, after working in the mental health field as a certified legal Spanish/English interpreter.

Although they have different dreams and goals, these California State University, Northridge students do have some common ground: They work at the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, and they are recipients of 2017 library-funded scholarships.

Rosman, Chavez, Rodriguez and 19 other students were honored at the Oviatt Library’s Student Employee Scholarship Reception, held March 30 at the Orange Grove Bistro on campus. This was just the second annual reception, but the library has offered at least 20 $1,000 scholarships each year for the past five years.

Before the presentation, scholarship donors and recipients got to know a little more about one another. During the program, Mark Stover, dean of the Oviatt Library, presented students with scholarship certificates, and they thanked the donors.

“This is my favorite event of the year,” said Stover. “It’s really special for me personally because I was a library student assistant when I was in college, and it inspires me when I hear about our student assistants’ lives and see the scholastic and academic challenges that they’ve overcome. I’m so pleased to be in a room with 22 of the most wonderful students that you can imagine, their family and friends, and all the wonderful donors who gave to these scholarships.”

For communications major Diana Takehara, who works in the library’s Music and Media Department, receiving the Virginia Elwood Scholarship meant getting a little closer to achieving her dream of working with community youth. “I personally take 18 course units along with my job, and having this scholarship really does help,” Takehara said. “Just being able to apply for scholarships gives us a sense of hope.”

Virginia Elwood-Akers, the donor behind Takehara’s scholarship, couldn’t agree more.

“I was a librarian here for 30 years — I retired in 2001, and I loved my job,” she said. “I went to college on scholarships, and I know how important they are. Sometimes it only takes a little bit of money to make a big difference.”

Andrew Gomez-Ramirez, a guitar performance major who works in the library’s Special Collections and Archives, said he plans to use his Ronald and Elizabeth-ann Purcell International Guitar Research Archives (IGRA) Scholarship to help with his living expenses and to save for a professional guitar. He said he hopes to parlay his passion for music into a teaching career, to pass the gift of music on to future generations.

“To me, [the scholarship] represents an investment to further my career in music,” Gomez-Ramirez said.

Elizabeth-ann Purcell, widow of Ron Purcell — a former CSUN professor of guitar performance who established the International Guitar Research Archives on campus — created the scholarship Gomez-Ramirez received as an extension of her husband’s generosity to students in need, a tribute to what she called “Ron’s lunchbox.”

“When he was working, he always had this box in his drawer,” she said. “When students came in fidgeting while getting ready, he’d ask them if they had eaten. If they hadn’t, he would give them money from the box to go get a hamburger or something. Maybe it was the only food they had all day.”

Samuel Thim, a business law major who works in the library’s Finance and Personnel Department and a recipient of the Ann & David Perkins Scholarship, thanked the assembled scholarship donors on behalf of all the recipients.

“We go through our lives constantly being impacted by people whom we may not know fully,” he said. “When I was little, I remember my dad telling me a story about how a meteor knocked out the dinosaurs — he said it wasn’t the initial contact, but the deep impact that caused ripple effects. Thank you for providing the deep impact that will have an ongoing ripple effect in our lives.”

2017 Oviatt Library Student-Employee Scholarship Recipients

Ardis Flenniken Scholarship

• Belinda Figueroa

Dr. Karin J. Duran Scholarship (sponsored by Rick Nupoll)

• Michelle Castaneda
• Eduardo Chavez

Virginia Elwood Scholarship

• Diana Takehara

Friends of the Library Scholarship

• Grant Coughlin

Ronald C. and Elizabeth-ann Purcell IGRA Scholarship

• Andrew Gomez-Ramirez

Mary and James Cleary International Scholarship (sponsored by the University Women’s Club)

• Julia Haiduk

Lois and Ralph Prator Scholarship (sponsored by the University Women’s Club)

• Taya Zoormandan
• Jonathan Watts

Marianne Afifi Scholarship

• Jonathan Watts

Gus and Erika Manders Scholarship

• Ardavan Makaremi
• Gitty Namiranian
• Preston Nowakowski

Dr. Bonita J. Campbell WISE Scholarship

• Lucila Broughton
• Ninsina Yadkar

Library Employee Scholarship

• Inderdeep Kaur

Ann and David Perkins Scholarship

• Shanaya Pourdehghan
• Mayra Rodriguez
• Lora Rosman
• Samuel Thim
• Kamilia Torres
• Dennis Villa