Sony Donates Video Equipment to Calit2 at UCSD.
 |
| Calit² Education layer leader at UCSD Gabriele Wienhausen talks about Sixth College's focus on Culture, Art and Technology. [Video] Length: 1:52 .................. |
 |
| Wienhausen, provost of UCSD's undergraduate Sixth College, discusses the Digital Playroom as a "communal learning space." [Video] Length: 1:59 .................. |
 |
| Wienhausen hails Sony's donation and its importance to students, Sixth College, and [Video] Length: 2:12 .................. |
San Diego, October 6, 2003 -- Students enrolled in the newest undergraduate college of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) will get everyday access to the latest in video camera equipment donated by Sony Electronics Inc. The company is giving $12,000 worth of camcorders to the Education section of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology [Calit²] at UCSD. The equipment will be used primarily by students and faculty of UCSD's Sixth College. "This generous gift underscores the commitment of Sony, Calit² and Sixth College to making multimedia a core component of cutting-edge educational programs," said Gabriele Wienhausen, Provost of Sixth College and Calit²'s Education leader at UCSD. "We are very grateful to Sony for making this equipment available to our students and for their dedication to this program."
Sony will donate twelve DCR-TRV38 MiniDV Handycam® camcorders. The camcorders deliver megapixel resolution with a larger-than-usual 3.5-inch SwivelScreenT LCD. The latest video technology incorporated into the camcorders includes USB streaming, making it possible to use the camcorder to stream live or recorded content to a personal computer.
The gift is part of Sony's active philanthropy program in San Diego County, where the company employs more than 2,000 people. Sony USA Foundation allocates funds annually to support local San Diego institutions, and Sony employees on a volunteer committee vote on specific donations. "Education is our main priority," said Irene Balli-Dumas, Director of Government, Media and Public Relations, who also sits on the committee. "Fifty percent of all our philanthropy in San Diego goes to support education, and given the mandates of both Sixth College and Calit²'s Education group, this donation was a perfect fit for Sony."
Sixth College will deploy the donated camcorders in its newly-furnished Digital Playroom, a multimedia facility used by students as part of the college's ongoing commitment to Culture/Art/Technology. "The cameras will enable us to undertake some innovative film-making courses with students, and are a much higher grade than our students would normally get to use," said Wienhausen. "In order to make the Sixth College Digital Playroom really successful for our students, we rely on partnerships such as this with Sony."
Sony has a long history of philanthropy benefiting UCSD programs, and is an industry partner of Calit² as well as a member of the Corporate Affiliates Program (CAP) of the Jacobs School of Engineering. Calit² is a partnership of UCSD and UC Irvine.
Sony's gift contributes to the $1 billion fund-raising goal of The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What's Next, which was publicly launched on March 15, 2003. Campaign priorities include supporting students and faculty through scholarships, fellowships and endowed chairs; creating and expanding academic programs; funding research endeavors and health sciences advancements; and providing innovation funds and unrestricted support. The campaign total is $496.5 million as of September 8, 2003 and is scheduled to conclude in June 2007.
Media Contacts
Doug Ramsey/Calit² dramsey@ucsd.edu, (858) 822-5825
Rosanne Brown/Sony San Diego, Rosanne.Brown@am.sony.com, (858) 942-2915