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The Regents of the University of California
 

FROM MURPHY HALL

Associate Administrative Vice Chancellor Sam Morabito is taking on a newly created role as vice chancellor for business and administrative services, Chancellor Albert Carnesale announced Jan. 21. Under the leadership of Morabito and Administrative Vice Chancellor Peter W. Blackman, UCLA has made significant progress in “aligning central campus administrative operations with the objective of providing responsive and effective customer services,” the chancellor said. The organizational change will help UCLA take the next step in the process. Morabito will oversee all of the functions of Business and Administrative Services (BAS), as well as the UCLA Police. Blackman, who has overseen the consolidation of BAS units over the past decade, will again make Capital Programs his primary focus. The department has been under his purview for more than 20 years. Blackman will continue to oversee Intercollegiate Athletics and work on important strategic initiatives with the chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor Dan Neuman.

NO CRIMINAL CHARGES

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has decided not to file criminal charges against a graduate student who performed Russian roulette in an art class as part of his performance piece. “Our investigation was inconclusive,” said Nancy Greenstein, director of community service for the UCLA Police. The graduate student turned in a fake gun to the dean of students as the “weapon” he used in the piece, Greenstein said. Meanwhile, the Dean of Students Office will decide later this month whether the student broke the code of conduct. Art Professors Chris Burden and Nancy Rubins, who were not present in the classroom during the Nov. 29 incident, cited the university’s failure to punish the student as one of the reasons they are retiring. In response, Dean Christopher Waterman of the School of the Arts and Architecture said the couple’s presence “has contributed significantly to that program’s preeminent standing in the art world and in national academic rankings. We are grateful to them both for their commitment to the teaching and mentoring of young artists and wish them success in the years ahead.” Burden is well-known for his own 1970s performance piece, “Shoot,” in which he allowed himself to be shot in the arm by a friend in a private art gallery.

A ‘GO’ FOR VOYAGER

The UCLA Library has officially accepted its new online information system from Endeavor Information Systems. Voyager, Endeavor’s integrated information management system, features a Web-based public access catalog, cataloging functions, acquisitions and serials management, circulation services and course reserves.