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©2004
The Regents of the University of California
 

BUCKLE UP OR ELSE

As part of a special enforcement program, the UC Police Department on campus will be ticketing any drivers and passengers in both private and university vehicles who are not wearing their seat belts. From May 16 to June 5, officers will be participating in a national seat belt enforcement program, “Click it or Ticket,” to draw attention to this problem. Of the 31,904 passengers killed in crashes nationwide in 2003, 56% weren’t wearing seat belts. The maximum fine for seat belt violations for those 16 and older is $87 for the first offense; that fine more than doubles for the second. When children under 16 are not properly secured, drivers face a maximum fine of $340, which increases to $871 for the second offense.

SENATE REVIEW

An Academic Senate ad hoc committee has been formed to look at issues that arise from the increasing number of UCLA courses that incorporate online and distance learning. The committee also is looking at a recent proposal to offer a master’s degree in engineering that would be administered entirely online. “We want to investigate whether our various rules and regulations regarding degrees can accommodate the new initiatives we have coming through or whether we need to revise them,” said Senate Chair Kathleen Komar. Associate Professor of Film and Television William McDonald chairs the committee.

CAMPUS CRIME

Overall, violent and property crimes on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods dropped 11% in 2004 compared to the previous year, according to a draft report by the UCLA police. Taken separately, violent crime rose 9%, primarily due to an increase in aggravated assaults, up from 13 in 2003 to 21 in 2004. Most of these incidents occurred off campus in adjacent student-dominated residential neighborhoods, often at parties or social gatherings, police said. While property crime overall fell 12% in 2004 from the previous year, motor vehicle thefts went up 25% from 65 in 2003 to 81 in 2004.

GENUINE TREASURES

The Central City Association of Los Angeles recently honored two UCLA physicians as “Treasures of Los Angeles” for their leadership of a groundbreaking medical team that separated Guatemalan conjoined twins in 2002. Jorge Lazareff and Henry Kawamoto were on a blue-ribbon list of honorees that included UC Regent and former Paramount Chief Sherry Lansing and test pilot Chuck Yeager. All were hailed April 28 at a luncheon attended by 1,400 at the Shrine Auditorium. Lazareff has launched Global Neuro Rescue, which treats people with neurological disorders in Third World countries. Kawamoto, head of craniofacial surgery at UCLA for 27 years, has devoted countless hours to training plastic surgery residents.