UCLA Today: archive 000111

BUREAU BRIEFS
School of Law – The UCLA School of Law, Center for Governmental Studies and California Voter Foundation are launching a project to bring greater transparency and accountability to the role of money in state and federal campaigns.… Health Care – A hormone common in pregnant women shows promise as an easily administered treatment for people with early-stage multiple sclerosis… Staff Assembly – UCLA Staff Assembly’s executive board for 2002-03 has been elected…

STRONG START FOR FIAT LUX
120 new Fiat Lux Seminars offered for the 2002-03 academic year are bringing an intense, focused, small-class experience to UCLA freshmen.

HUPA, L.A. YOUTHS FIND COMMON GROUND
They live on opposite sides of a cultural chasm that seemed unbridgeable — 21 youths from underprivileged areas in Los Angeles and 28 youths from the remote Hoopa Valley Tribal Reservation in Northern California.

DATELINE UCLA
UCLA to Welcom Parents — Families of first-year and transfer students will experience campus life during Homecoming & Parents’ Weekend
Oct. 25-27... Let the Good Times Roll — Come celebrate good times and school traditions with fellow Bruins… Get up and go — BruinGO! is back.

DID YOU KNOW?
UCLA, with its Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, is the only major research university in the country that combines the Departments of Education and Information Studies. The school is a nationally recognized leader in educational reform efforts and information literacy issues.

L.A. AREA GAINS IN LOW-END JOBS
Workers in the new jobs created during this period found themselves at opposite ends of the wage scale, according to a new report released by the UC Institute for Labor and Employment headquartered at UCLA.

CAMPUS OFFICE HANDLES WORK EQUITY ISSUES
What, in this age of Proposition 209, constitutes affirmative action? Diversity? Equal employment opportunity? Where on campus would you find answers? Taking it a step further, what if you were experiencing a problem involving discrimination or sexual harassment at work? Would you know where to take your complaint? The answers are, literally, at your fingertips if you log onto a Web site for UCLA’s Staff Affirmative Action Office, headed by Linda Avila.

YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW – Minority grad rates up — The University of California is far surpassing national averages in the number of underrepresented students who graduate, according to UC findings released last week. Overall, 63.3% of UC underrepresented students (African American, Latino/Chicano and American Indian) entering in the fall of 1994 had graduated by 2000… Campus Crime Dips — The latest crime statistics report by the UCLA Police Department shows that overall offenses and violations reported on and around the campus fell from 662 incidents in 2000 to 648 in 2001… 21st Century Literacy — A $1-million gift from SBC Pacific Bell to the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies has made possible the creation of a Web site that provides teachers and librarians with resources to help youths develop the literacy skills they need to succeed in today’s multimedia world. Said GSE&IS Dean Aimée Dorr: “Teaming with SBC Pacific Bell, we have created a site where educators, librarians and parents can find the resources and tools needed to address multiple literacies with children and teens.” …Agreement reached — ASUCLA and the union representing 75 food-service and five maintenance workers, all non-students, have agreed on a contract after three weeks at the bargaining table.

INDIE FILMMAKER DOCUMENTS REAL LIFE
During six intense months spent with four couples in love, independent filmmaker Becky Smith nearly lost track of a defining fact: All of the couples were gay or lesbian. So, apparently, did many viewers of “Gay Weddings,” some 2,000 hours of film distilled into eight 30-minute episodes. The program scored record viewership on Bravo television last month.

FROM PUNK ROCK TO OLD NORSE
As student protests engulfed South Korea during the Democratic uprisings of 1987, a question nagged at Timothy Tangherlini, then a graduate student conducting research on Korean shamans in Seoul. “I kept wondering, ‘Why isn’t there any punk rock here?’ ” recalled the UCLA folklorist who is also a veteran of four punk or alternative rock bands. “Korea was such a fertile ground for music expressing social outrage, but all I could find was either this plaintive traditional drumming or insipid pop.”

NAMES AND FACES
Applause: Harry V. Vinters; Mike Padilla; Nancy Jo Bush; BruinGO!; Alison Bunting.
Awards: Peter McLaren; Chelsea Kidwell; Giorgio Buccellati; Merrick Posnansky.
In Memoriam: Wesley J. Liebeler

'ROUND AND ABOUT
Be there — Staff and faculty can enjoy the perks of 2002 UCLA Football Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day by watching the Bruins battle the Stanford Cardinal at the Rose Bowl at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 26… Saluting UCLA Women — A daylong conference that honors the achievements of UCLA women will be held Nov. 9 at the James West Alumni Center and Ackerman Union by the UCLA Alumni Association… New Business — The UC Business Officer Institute is calling for nominations by Oct. 9 for its next session Dec. 3-5 at the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach.

BRINGING CREATIVITY TO LAB, CLASSROOM
Three grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will enable UCLA faculty to invigorate and enliven undergraduate science education.

THEY HAVE LAST WORD ON JOHN DRYDEN
It took 18 English scholars 53 years to complete what is the longest-running research project in the humanities at UCLA to date. Now that the 12,217th — and last — page of “The Works of John Dryden” was published last month, completing the 20-volume set, the last members of the California Dryden Project — all three — can finally sign off with pride.

WEB WATCH
UC Human Resources and Benefits has a new Web site, “At Your Service,” that repackages information that was on the old UCbencom and systemwide Human Resources sites into a more concise format. Much of the information has been organized into “frequently asked questions” and life/work events. And new features have been added to make it easier to find information. If the answer to your question suggests a specific action be taken, a link has been provided wherever possible to a printable form you’ll need or an online action site.

IRAQ OFFENSIVE COULD INCREASE TERRORISM
Is it anti-American to disagree with U.S. policy? When much of the world has sincere doubts about the wisdom of an offensive against Iraq, should it be thought anti-American? ... In fact, we all know that many countries, not just Iraq, have stockpiled biological or chemical weapons — including, of course, the United States and Israel ... What’s especially widespread in Asia, though, is not just doubt, but fear that a Western attack on Iraq would erect a historic wall of mistrust between the West and the Muslim world, and in the end create psychological conditions conducive to the growth of terrorism.

CALL TO RECONCILE STEM CELL LAWS
In August 2001, before the horrific events of September, the national debate over stem cell research reached a peak with President Bush’s decision that federal funds could not be used to consume embryos to isolate stem cells, but that embryonic stem cells previously isolated from embryos could be used. These cells would be from one of 64 lines being propagated in academia and industry. Last month, however, Gov. Gray Davis signed into legislation a bill allowing California scientists to create more stem cell lines for research purposes. These decisions have practical consequences for researchers.

FAVORITE ROAD TRIPS: TEAMING UP WITH THE BRUINS
It’s easy to take school spirit for granted at home in L.A., where meeting another UCLA alum is all too common. But surrounded — literally — by a Crimson Tide of ’Bama fans, every blue-and-gold shirt signified brotherhood. At UCLA, we take pride in the diversity that makes our community strong and interesting. Football gives us a chance to celebrate our collective culture, the players providing the common soundtrack to our lives.

OUR WORLD by CAROLE CABLE

CLOSEUP:
VOTERS FACE LARGEST SCHOOL BOND IN HISTORY
On Nov. 5, California voters will decide on the largest school bond ever to be put on the ballot. It is the first of two bonds that, if approved by voters, will provide a total of $25 billion to upgrade and modernize California’s public schools, community colleges and universities. Next month’s vote will decide the fate of the first, Proposition 47, a $13-billion, kindergarten-to-university school construction bond.

*** New faculty join campus community