UC Santa Cruz: They've Got Game

I think UC Santa Cruz has a cool campus and an even cooler mascot. Fiat Slug.

Today's medianote comes from an article in the San Jose Mercury News. UC Santa Cruz--a beautiful hillside campus overlooking the Pacific where the school mascot is the banana slug--is starting an undergraduate major in computer game design, the first such major in the University of California system.

I think well thought out and amply-supported computer game development programs--USC's impressive Interactive Media Division offers bachelors and masters degrees--make a lot of sense. There are always more film school graduates than good jobs available for them. Same thing for journalism school graduates and good jobs in journalism. But gaming is still a young field where there are terrific opportunities. The educational pipeline is only beginning to supply the field with a regular infusion of young talent. And if your university is located in Silicon Valley's favorite beach town, well, it's a no-brainer, dude.