When Cynthia Bostick decided to take a leap into the world of writing fiction, she turned to her experiences as a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist working with cases of violent behavior. Her debut book, “The Match,” (under pen name Davinia Bostick) was recently self-published last June. A lecturer who teaches online classes in theory and therapeutic communication in the School of Nursing at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Bostick says that readers’ fascination with violent crime is a paradox of repulsion and attraction.

In the face of the state’s budget crisis, Scott Morris is working to maintain the notoriety that the guitar program and music department at California State University, Dominguez Hills earned by hosting the annual conference of the Guitar Foundation of America in 2007. This past Labor Day weekend Sept. 4-6, Morris presented the first Dominguez Hills Guitar Festival and Competition in the University Theatre and LaCorte Hall with the help of international colleagues, fellow performers, and donations of cash prizes, guitars and equipment from corporate sponsors.