UCLA Today: archive 031007

BUREAU BRIEFS
CAMPUS HUMAN RESOURCES: As of Sept. 30, more than 188 UCLA employees have taken advantage of the Staff and Academic Reduction in Time (START) program, which the University of California implemented in June to acheive temporary salary savings…. SYSTEMWIDE: Robert M. Berdahl announced Sept. 25 he will step down as chancellor of UC Berkeley in June 2004.… LABOR NEWS: UAW Local 2865, the union that represents UC academic student employees (teaching assistants, readers, tutors), called for a one-day strike at all UC campuses on Oct. 3.

SERVICE LEARNING EXPANDING ON CAMPUS, IN U.S.
As the service-learning movement takes off nationally, UCLA coordinators are predicting that more than 3,000 students on campus will participate this year — an increase of 50%.

STUDY: TAI CHI CLASSES BOOST IMMUNITY
Against the peaceful backdrop of the Sculpture Garden or in a secluded area of the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden, practitioners of tai chi can be seen, barely breaking the stillness of the surroundings with their slow, fluid movements.

CAMPUS BRIEFS
LABOR NEWS: The University Professional and Technical Employees/Communication Workers of America (UPTE/CWA) filed a petition May 29 with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) requesting an election to determine if a new unit of UC’s Administrative Professional staff wish to be exclusively represented by UPTE.... ACADEMIC FREEDOM: After extensive consultations with the faculty and endorsement by the systemwide Academic Senate, UC has finalized a new statement on academic freedom for its faculty.… PENDING DEPARTURE: After seven years of helping ASUCLA achieve a financial turnaround, Executive Director Patricia Eastman recently announced she will leave at the end of the year.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Academic Senate experienced its best voting turnout in history when nearly 1,000 members voted in their first electronic election last spring for the chair for 2004-05 and on the issue of quarters vs. semesters. That was nearly a 65% increase from last year’s turnout, in which 620 members voted.

STROKE STUDY FUNDED
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $16-million grant to a multihospital effort led by the UCLA Stroke Center to perform a pivotal trial of a new therapy for acute stroke.

OVERALL CRIME DOWN, BUT VIOLENT CRIME RATE RISES
The latest annual crime report released by the University of California Police Department shows that overall crime on campus and in the surrounding area — both violent and property crimes — fell 9% in 2002 from the previous year’s total. But incidents of aggravated assault last year doubled, from 16 in 2001 to 32 in 2002, boosting the incident rate for violent crimes.

YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW
RESEARCH ON DISPLAY: Researchers at the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), who for the past year have been applying the revolutionary technology of embedded networked sensing systems to critical scientific and social applications, will provide an overview of the center’s research at its first public research review Oct. 10 at the Tom Bradley International Center.... CHAMPION SPIRIT: UCLA hematology/oncology fellow Milana Dolezal is one of two Californians who will be riding in a cross-country bike relay that kicks off Oct. 11 in Los Angeles with five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.... WHO WILL OPERATE?: When you need a qualified surgeon in the coming years, will one be available? Maybe not, according to UCLA researchers.

ECONOMISTS PROJECT SLUGGISH GROWTH
California’s economic growth has been slower than expected and is likely to remain sluggish until well into 2004, according to economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast.

DATELINE UC SYSTEMWIDE
MEET UC CHIEF: Rather than host a formal inauguration ceremony, UC’s new president, Robert C. Dynes, will be meeting and talking with faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends in a series of three Web chats over the coming weeks and on a systemwide inaugural tour that will include a stop at UCLA.... HEADS UP: UC faculty and staff will soon be receiving 2004 health benefits information in the mail in preparation for Open Enrollment in November.

GRADUATE STUDENT RELISHES HER NEW ROLE
Authenticity is important to Jodi Lynette Anderson. So much so, that when she was applying to be the University of California’s 30th student regent, she felt compelled to tell her interviewers that she does not relish getting up in front of a crowd or being in the spotlight. But, she added, when she is moved by a particular cause, she rises to the occasion.

SHE HELPS FIND THE RIGHT TATTOO
Terisa Green, who is a lifelong Bruin, having earned her undergraduate degree in physics, a certificate in archaeology from Extension and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in archaeology from UCLA, did not originally set out to write a book about tattoos.

NAMES AND FACES
Hats Off: David Roussève... Priscilla Figueroa... Pat Payne.
Applause: Johannes Czernin... Benjamin Halpern... Mattel Children's Hospital... Rick Fox... Douglas Kellner.
Congrats: Center for Intercultural Performance... Center for Astrobiology... UCLA Center on Aging.

'ROUND AND ABOUT
NURSING INITIATIVES: A five-year, $3-million NIH award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to evaluate the effectiveness of a vaccination program to prevent hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus among the homeless in Los Angeles was one of three grants the School of Nursing recently received, totaling more than $3.5 million.... IN HIS NAME: The university will hold an official renaming ceremony for the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies on Oct. 9 from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. in Dickson Plaza.... NEW MEDIA IN VENICE: Thirteen students from UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design are participating in Beyond Media/Oltre I Media 03, the 7th International Festival of Architecture in Video, in Florence, Italy.... REAL MEDICINE: A new 13-episode reality series created by Emmy-winning producer and director R.J. Cutler will feature the stressful, high-stakes world of a group of first-year medical residents as they work at the UCLA Medical Center.

ATKINSON LEAVES ON HOPEFUL NOTE
During the final days of his eight-year tenure as UC president, Richard C. Atkinson could not help but comment on his knack for picking tumultuous times to make his entrances and exits.

CHILD-CARE PROGRAM A 'HIDDEN CAMPUS JEWEL'
In the midst of students rushing to class, you may have seen the youngest members of the UCLA community playfully strolling around campus, holding hands in the Sculpture Garden, browsing through the BookZone or simply observing the birds, squirrels and trees.

VOTE TODAY ION HISTORIC RECALL ELECTION
Today, citizens across California will go to the polls to vote in an unprecedented gubernatorial recall election. Make the time to become one of those voters.

LEADERSHIP KEY TO ETHICS
Over the past few years, we have been treated to a countless tally of accounting fraud, outrageous pay and perks and other financial shenanigans by some major global enterprises. Just recently, New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso was forced to resign amid an executive compensation scandal.

WHAT'S ON MY MIND:
PRESCRIPTION FOR FITNESS: AN AQUATIC HIDEAWAY
While thinking of something interesting to do, an advertisement for the UCLA Outdoor Adventures program at its Marina Aquatic Center (MAC) in Marina del Rey caught my eye. After all, it would certainly be irrational to live in Southern California and not take advantage of its climate and great outdoors.

OUR WORLD by CAROLE CABLE

CLOSE UP

CLOSE REVIEW IS KEY TO ADMISSIONS
They are 4,300 strong, most coming two weeks ago from towns, cities and rural communities across California to take a highly coveted seat in UCLA’s 2003 freshman class, a place for which roughly 40,700 others had vied.

INDEX 2003

october 7, 2003 (Vol. 24, No. 3)