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The Regents of the University of California
 

INDEX 2003

November 4, 2003 (Vol. 24, No. 5)

NEWS

BUREAU BRIEFS
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: UC President Robert C. Dynes has asked a 17-member Eligibility and Admissions Study Group to examine the undergraduate eligibility and admissions implementation issues that UC will face through 2010.… SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Refuting 30 years of scientific theory that solely credits hormones for brain development, UCLA scientists have identified 54 genes that may explain the different organization of male and female brains.… RESIDENTIAL LIFE: Students living in UCLA’s residence halls played ghosts and goblins Oct. 29 to help 2,400 children, ages 5-10, trick-or-treat in a safe environment during the 15th annual All-Hill Halloween.

LATINOS FACE HEALTH PROBLEMS
While Latinos in the Los Angeles area are generally in good health and live on average five years longer than non-Latinos in California, UCLA researchers say they are hampered by other factors, such as the lack of health insurance, unhealthy behaviors and limited access to doctors.

ARROWHEAD CENTER'S STAFF HOPEFUL OF RETURN
The wildfire that had threatened the Lake Arrowhead area appeared to have spared the lakeside community, as of press time Oct. 31, much to the relief of UCLA employees and others concerned about the fate of the UCLA Conference Center/Bruin Woods Vacation Center, located on the northern shore.

NEWS 2

CAMPUS BRIEFS
BLENDED INSTRUCTION: Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Judith L. Smith, in collaboration with Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology Jim Davis, recently launched a new initiative to draw together and share vital information from a small number of focused case studies exploring different and promising approaches that blend traditional and electronic learning.... SMOKE-FREE NURSES: A School of Nursing professor will launch a program to help nurses quit smoking. The first initiative of its kind nationally, “Tobacco Free Nurses” will be funded by almost $2 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help the country’s largest group of health professionals with the highest percentage of smokers.

DID YOU KNOW?
All of the University of California’s undergraduate campuses rank among the top public education bargains in the nation, according to a recent survey by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. The magazine’s fall 2003 study of the 100 best values in public eduation ranked UC San Diego, UC Berkeley and UCLA among the top 50 best values nationally. Other UC campuses followed, ending with UC Riverside in 100th place. Even with the increases, fees for resident undergraduates are still more than $1,200 below the average charged at other public universities that UC uses for fee comparison purposes.

HEALTH-CARE ETHICS
Medical advances, the explosion in information technologies and increasing economic pressures have introduced unprecedented ethical issues in health care and end-of-life care.

IMMIGRANT WORKERS FACE RISING WORKPLACE RISKS
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, annual rates for national and state workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities are at an all-time low and have been dropping for the past several years. But the official data also show rising rates for Hispanic workers.

YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW
EARLY CUNEIFORM ONLINE: UCLA and the Russian State Hermitage Museum are teaming up to make available online the early cuneiform collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg through the campus-based Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI).... TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY: UCLA seeks to honor undergraduate faculty from all departments and divisions who are using technology to enrich and deepen students’ educational experiences in innovative ways.... TO PROTECT AND SAFEGUARD: UCLA’s engineering school will hold a symposium to address the technological, environmental, ethical and economic issues involved in protecting the nation’s civil infrastructure.

PEOPLE

MUSIC FACULTY AT HOME IN DISNEY HALL
Sparkling new Walt Disney Concert Hall — 293,000 square feet of glistening, curved steel, glass and hardwood designed by Frank Gehry and located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles — is finally open for business.

SHE OFFERS HOPE ON WHEELS
Chosen from about 1,000 applicants, Milana Dolezal pedaled for a week with 25 others from the cancer community — physicians, caregivers and survivors alike — in the Tour of Hope, a bike relay that spanned 3,200 miles from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.

15 SECONDS
BRIAN D. TAYLOR: Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Urban Planning; Director, Institute of Transportation Studies.

NAMES AND FACES
Bravo: Edward R.B. McCabe ... Adeline Nyamathi ... Catherine Opie.
Hooray: Timothy Rice ... Arthur Arnold ... Judy Baca.
Applause: Joseph K. Perloff ... Michael Owen Jones ... Rosa Solorio ... David Gere.

CAMPUS

'ROUND AND ABOUT
NEW JOURNAL DEBUTS: A new national journal by the Asian American Studies Center focuses on policies, practices and community research to benefit the nation’s burgeoning Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.... SIP 'N' SURF: Northern Lights Coffeehouse now offers free Internet access to students, staff and faculty so they can sip cappuccinos and catch up on e-mails, check on class schedules or surf the Web.... ADD YOURSELF: To find out the latest news about staff scholarships offered for career enhancement and professional growth, Learn-At-Lunch programs, Casino Night and other events and programs sponsored by the UCLA Staff Assembly, join its listserv.... CUBS WANTED: Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School is now accepting applications for admission for 2004-05 to its pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade program. Children must be at least 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2004, to qualify for enrollment.

BUSH'S FOREIGN POLICY FUELS DEBATE
How effective has the Bush administration’s foreign policy been in Iraq and the war on terrorism? A former U.S. congressman and a former member of President Reagan’s transition team sparred over that question during a debate Oct. 17 in the James West Center sponsored by the Burkle Center for International Studies.

THEY STEAL INFORMATION AND YOUR GOOD NAME
Thieves are looking for your identity, and 27.3 million of us in the last five years have had ours pilfered by a growing number of sophisticated crooks who have found the near-perfect crime, according to Detective Tony Duenas of the UCLA Police Department.

CAMPUS STILL ATTRACTS STAFF DESPITE BUDGET
Even as UCLA grapples with state budget cuts and cost-of-living increases are nowhere in sight for the near future, the university remains a highly sought-after employer for those looking for staff jobs, according to Campus Human Resources (CHR) officials.

VOICES