Students who are not aware of the SDSU Innovation Campus may be missing out on future employment opportunities.

The Innovation Center is located on the northeast side of the SDSU campus, just off of the I-29 overpass exit. The campus itself occupies 125 acres, with over 80 acres available for development. The site has the potential of housing up to 40 buildings, with 1 million square feet capable of supporting up to 3,000 employees.

From the high-tech conference room that has high-definition video conferencing and a Smart Board, to administrative and web hosting services, businesses that lease space from the Innovation Campus have access to everything they need to make a small business grow.

Since the Innovation Center’s ground breaking ceremony in November 2007 and its official opening in October 2008, the Innovation Campus has been providing class A office and laboratory space to SDSU and businesses alike, said Teresa McKnight, CEO and executive director of the SDSU Innovation Campus administration office.

McKnight has over 20 years of experience in developing incubation centers and directed a 173-acre research park for the Utah State University.

To date, there are 20 companies occupying space within the Innovation Center and it is at 84 percent capacity, with over 50 employees and 13 SDSU students. An additional wing, which will provide 18,000 additional square feet to the existing 28,000 square-foot building, will be added to the Innovation Center in the spring.

One of the companies located in the Innovation Center is 9 Clouds.

“9 Clouds has grown into multiple businesses since moving into the Innovation Campus,” said Scott Meyer, Chief Outreach Officer of 9 Clouds. “We continue to assist and educate businesses and individuals on using digital technology. Now we also develop iPhone and iPad apps with our mobile app company Snapp.”

Meyer said being based in South Dakota is not a hindrance.

“There is a stigma that South Dakota is not a hub of technology,” Meyer said. “We’ve found the opposite. Anything being based in South Dakota gives us insight into how the average American uses technology, which is quite different than the coasts.”

Aside from the Innovation Center, a 28,000 square foot Seed Technology Lab provides additional office space with specialized labs and a greenhouse.

Herseth Sandlin’s Return to Brookings

At the beginning of this year, former S.D. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin accepted a position on the SDSU Growth Partnership Board. The position, which is currently held by Don Larson, will allow Herseth Sandlin to oversee the progress made by the Innovation Campus.

“The arrival of Herseth Sandlin will help strengthen our alliance with our D.C. delegation and help build a strong base of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies as potential clients”, said McKnight. “Stephanie’s appointment means strengthening the board to push forward an aggressive marketing campaign to recruit anchor research and development companies and continue to construct facilities to accommodate future tenants.”

Herseth Sandlin was eager to take the position and found that it would be a great opportunity.

“When Don Larson with the Brookings County Commission reached out to me last December about the possibility of serving on the Growth Partnership Board as the Commission’s representative. I knew it was a terrific opportunity to continue my advocacy for South Dakota,” Herseth Sandlin said. “The Innovation Campus is the state’s first research park, and this is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a skilled and serious team seeking to ensure its success.”

Herseth Sandlin went on to talk about how important she believes the Innovation Campus is to the state of South Dakota.

“Some of the best jobs of the future for Brookings and all of South Dakota will depend on research, the acquisition of new knowledge and applying and marketing that knowledge for commercial purposes,” Herseth Sandlin said. “I am so pleased to be working with other members of the Board and our community to build on the strengths of SDSU, cultivate business partnerships and recruit entrepreneurs–all essential to the successful development and growth of the Innovation Campus.”

Future of the Innovation Campus

As the Innovation Campus continues into its third year, McKnight hopes that the facility will continue to grow to its full potential.

“Looking into the future, our goals are to have a large number of SDSU students employed at the Innovation Campus, ” said McKnight. The Innovation Campus looks forward to fostering cooperation between SDSU researchers and groups with private and government partners. We would like to have several large anchor research and development companies locate to the Innovation Campus.” The development of the Innovation Campus is a long-term project. “Based on national standards, it takes 10 years to reach a successful level. We are two years into this and we are already seeing market demand increasing,” said McKnight.

#1.2005530:3051511941.jpeg:The Innovation Center is on the northeast side of campus, just off of the I-29 overpass.:The Innovation Center is on the northeast side of campus, just off of the I-29 overpass. Former S.D. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin accepted a position in which she will oversee the progress made by the Innovation Campus.:Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua

In the digital age, you don’t need to have a peg-leg or an eye patch to be considered a pirate. You just need an Internet connection.

“Everyone I talk to says they [download illegally],” said an anonymous freshman electrical engineering major.

A freshman German major said she has not downloaded any music yet, but only because she couldn’t get the popular peer-to-peer file-sharing client Limewire to work. However, she said she would download if she could get it working and isn’t afraid of being caught.

“It is stealing,” she said. “Obviously it’s wrong, but … I’m not above it.”

SDSU’s Student Digital Millennium Copyright Act policy was modified in the fall of 2009 to comply with changes to the DMCA that took effect July 2010.

The current policy is to promptly process and investigate alleged copyright infringement and take actions under the DMCA.

The first offense for copyright infringement results in a $25 fine and requires participation in a DMCA education awareness program. Second time offenders must pay a $50 fine and are suspended from SDSU Internet connectivity for three days.

Third offenses warrant a $100 fine and a permanent loss of SDSU Internet use. Charges are filed with the Office of Student Conduct and disciplinary action is sought.

“We have to have technology in place8212;policies like that in place, which is what we’ve stepped up, and you’ve got to show you’re proactive about the approach,” said Michael Adelaine, vice president for information technology, in regards to changes in the DMCA.

SDSU does not seek out violations but rather blocks blacklisted sites and peer-to-peer clients, as well as limits questionable bandwidth. D2L and other university-related sites are given maximum bandwidth, while peer-to-peer traffic8212;legitimate or illegitimate as it is not directly monitored by SDSU8212;is choked down.

“We just lower the bandwidth,” Adelaine said. “We’re very passive in this. We’ve got our policy, and as a university, we decided that would be our approach.”

Some peer-to-peer clients, like BitTorrent, are not completely blocked because they have educational and research applications.

The university takes direct action only when it receives a take-down notice from the recording or movie industry stating that someone has violated copyright law and should be dealt with.

Elizabeth Fox, digital information service librarian and copyright compliance officer, directly receives these take-down notices via e-mail.

Fox estimated that she receives hundreds of notices from the music and movie industry per semester. She did not have the exact number at the time of publication, but Fox said her estimation was lower, if anything.

Fox forwards the notices to the help desk manager to determine who is responsible for violations. Disciplinary actions in accordance with SDSU’s student DMCA policy are then taken. No names are given out to the recording or movie industry.

“We’ve been asked before for student names, and the university has said we’re not going to give that out,” Adelaine said, adding industries seemed content with SDSU handling punishments.

According to Fox, SDSU has had only one second-offender, while all others have stopped after being punished for their first offense.

“We’ve only had a handful that knew it…The majority of our folks didn’t realize,” Adelaine said. “The vast majority of them are really unaware.”

Fox said Hilton M. Briggs Library is working on making a copyright drop-in session available for all students so they can be informed, and she wished the issue could somehow be addressed to all students.

“It’s not that they don’t know what they’re doing,” Fox said. “They don’t know what they’re doing is wrong.”

Adelaine said the issue is not critical.

“It is not a real large issue,” he said. “If I look at the bandwidth, the majority of it is appropriate usage, by far. Well over 80 percent is appropriate. That other percent, I couldn’t tell you in that if it is or not.”

Fox had a clear message for those who knowingly download music and movies: Stop.

“One it’s illegal. Two, it’s dangerous for your computer. Three, think of the artists who made those songs,” Fox said. She encouraged students to find legal channels, like iTunes, to get their music.

#1.1573192:2315010546.jpg:The ramped up piracy policy is making students think twice before downloading copyrighted material.:The ramped up piracy policy is making students think twice before downloading copyrighted material.:COLLEGIAN PHOTO BY RYAN ROBINSON