Cal State Channel Islands breaks ground on $3-million center
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers NEW GROUND- Relatives of the late businessman Martin V. Smith, a major donor to California State University Channel Islands, and officials from the university, the city and the county, take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin V. Smith Center for Integrative Decision-Making at the university last week.

Rain didn't stop California State University Channel Islands officials from breaking ground last week on the Martin V. Smith Center for Integrative Decision-Making.

Although a downpour forced the ceremony indoors, city, county and university officials shoveled dirt nonetheless in a makeshift trench to mark the start of construction on the one-story, 4,100-square-foot building that will be located on University Drive adjacent to Sage Hall.

"It's going to give us a stateof-the-art facility that will be the measure of any other campus so our students will be able to compete with anybody," said CSUCI President Richard Rush after the ceremony.

Construction is set to begin in April and be completed in spring 2009.

Design plans call for the $3million center to feature two small conference or break-out rooms and a 60-seat classroom outfitted with two large projection screens capable of displaying different images simultaneously. Students can plug in their laptops at their seats and project information from their computers onto the screens.

The classroom will be set up to run a continuous ticker tape of all the world's major financial markets. In addition, state-of-the-art software will enable students to gain handson experience operating their own business through computer simulations.

Martin "Bud" Smith was one of the county's most successful philanthropists and real estate developers.

The Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics, the first school the state university named on campus, is another result of the $8-million donation from Smith and his wife, Martha, and the foundation they established before they died several years ago.

The couple, longtime Camarillo residents, were well-known for their lifelong support of educational causes and played an important role in the creation of CSUCI.

Representing the Smith family, Stacy Cannon said that, contrary to appearances, her grandfather was not a "oneman empire" but needed others to see his real estate developments through to completion.

She said the center is aptly named because Smith excelled at integrating or blending many different, often complicated components into successful business ventures.

"My grandfather has been my biggest inspiration throughout my life. Hopefully, through the creation of this center, he will continue to inspire many others," Cannon said.

The family and foundation's $8-million gift has also helped create a speakers series as well as scholarships for students and faculty research, said Bill Cordeiro, director of the Martin V. Smith School of Business and Economics.

The donation has brought world recognition to the school, Cordeiro added.