Cal It Cal State, East Bay by Charlotte Laws. Published in the Oakland Tribune

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Published in the Oakland Tribune on October 11, 2004. This is reproduced from the newspaper because the link may dissolve over time.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Oakland Tribune www.oaklandtribune.com

Article Last Updated: Monday, October 11, 2004 - 3:37:33 AM PST

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Call it Cal State, East Bay

IT MAY SEEM superficial and needlessly time-consuming to change the name of Cal State Hayward to Cal State, East Bay, but perception is reality.

This nominal alteration may not only attract brighter students and sizable donations to the university, but also could result in benefits to the faculty and students -- such as a greater number of books published and research grants awarded.

Take Los Angeles real estate as an analogy. I live in Southern California, and work in the Bay Area part time. What do Angelinos do when they want to modify attitudes toward an undistinguished or downtrodden neighborhood? They rename. This results in prestige, local improvements, and ultimately a considerable increase in property values.

Valley Village, Lake Balboa, West Hills and Valley Glen demonstrate the success of this technique.

Trendy Beverly Hills executives regularly buy real estate in neighborhoods they previously shunned. The only difference? A name change and the ensuing perception shift.

Cal State, East Bay should do very well.

Charlotte Laws