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HEAD OF HEALTH AFFAIRS

Wyatt R. (Rory) Hume, a former UCLA executive vice chancellor, will take over newly expanded responsibilities and another title -- vice president for health affairs. In July, Provost M.R.C. Greenwood announced Hume’s appointment as executive vice provost and vice president for academic affairs. At that time, she noted that the relationship between academic and health affairs was being evaluated for better integration. In his new role, Hume will represent the UC as senior officer in charge of health affairs and serve on President Robert C. Dynes’ Cabinet. “Dr. Hume is ideally suited to this new and expanded role,” Dynes said. At UCLA, Hume’s responsibilities included management oversight of the UCLA health system, including the health sciences schools, the faculty practice plans, and the hospitals and clinics. “Before that, he had extensive experience at UCSF and UCLA, as a department chair and dean, in health science teaching, research, clinical care, and in program administration,” Dynes said. His dual role will create more opportunities for cooperation and collaboration at UC, the president added.

AT THE HELM OF STAFF ASSEMBLY

UCLA Staff Assembly has a new slate of officers for the academic year. Douglas Padley, compensation analyst for Campus Human Resources, leads the Executive Board as president. Joining him are president-elect Shelley Brown, administrative analyst for Corporate Financial Services (CFS), and four vice presidents of events, information systems, and outreach and programs. They are respectively Janet Adriano, payroll assistant for CFS; Stacey Rosborough, user service manager at the Center for Digital Humanitites; Sabrina Lux, administrative director in the Department of Psychology; and Nancy Tran, operations manager for CFS. Shelly Brooks, management services officer for the School of Public Affairs, serves as historian/secretary; and Gayelea Allison, payroll manager for CFS, is treasurer.

FOUNDATION LEADER

James T. “Tim” McCarthy, a philanthropist and retired corporate executive, has been named chair-elect of The UCLA Foundation. McCarthy, a San Diego resident and longtime supporter of UCLA, began his term July 1 after being elected by the foundation’s Board of Governors. He will succeed Herbert Kawahara on July 1, 2006, as the 18th volunteer leader of the foundation. “Private giving is increasingly critical to ensuring that UCLA remain competitive with other top universities,” Chancellor Albert Carnesale said. “Tim’s commitment to The Foundation and to UCLA is deeply appreciated.” McCarthy is treasurer and director of the McCarthy Family Foundation. Among the foundation’s interests are HIV/AIDS research, treatment and prevention; child abuse prevention; homelessness; and K-12 science education. “No mission can be more important than ensuring high-quality higher education and research at public universities,” McCarthy said. “I hope my background in philanthropy, economics and business can contribute to the success of The UCLA Foundation.

STACKS CLOSED

The stacks at UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Memorial Library in Los Angeles’ historic West Adams district will remain closed for the next six months to make way for needed renovations. On Oct. 2, students and librarians began packing more than 50,000 old and rare books for the move to UCLA’s Southern Regional Library Facility. The temporary relocation will make way for a $1-million renovation of the air-conditioning and heating system in the library’s two subterranean storage facilities. “The air conditioning system we had was inadequate,” said Peter Reill, director of the 17th- and 18th-Century Studies Center, which administers the library. “It couldn’t both keep the temperature and the humidity low enough.”

BENEFITS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

The NSF has awarded a five-year continuing grant to a collaboration of social scientists, ethicists and environmental scientists led by Lynne Zucker of UCLA and Richard Freeman of Harvard. With first-year funding of $325,000, the project will provide valuable information about nanotechnology and ways in which citizens can benefit from it. The co-principal investigators from UCLA are S ociology and Public Policy Professor Zucker and Michael Darby, Warren C. Cordner Professor of Management, Economics and Public Policy. UCLA’s Carlo Montemagno, Doumani Chair in Biomedical Engineering and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, serves as chief scientist. Professors Helmut Anheier from the School of Public Affairs and Mariko Sakikabara from the Anderson School are also involved in the research.

HARD TO CONVINCE

An intervention program designed to promote screening for colorectal cancer - and thereby decrease the number of cancers diagnosed - failed to increase screening rates in the managed care setting, a UCLA study has found. During the two-year period monitored in the study, less than 30% of eligible patients received any screening for colorectal cancer in participating managed care practices, said Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the lead author of the study. The study will be published in the Nov. 15, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. "Colorectal cancer screening rates are low," Ganz said. "We need to do better. Screening saves lives. With increased screening and removal of pre-cancerous polyps, doctors won't have the horrible task of telling their patients that they have colorectal cancer, a cancer that could easily have been prevented."

STEP BY STEP

Staffers from UCLA Corporate Financial Services (CFS) have been raising money for people with HIV/AIDS by participating in an annual benefit walk for the past eight years. This year, they hope to pull together a campuswide UCLA team for the Oct. 16 event. Anyone interested in making the 10-kilometer walk (6.2 miles) to benefit Aids Project Los Angeles and other service organizations can go to www.aidswalk.net/losangeles/index.html to register online. Indicate you are joining Team UCLA (#5000). For more information, e-mail sbrown@finance.ucla.edu.

MOVING ON UP

If you are an administrative specialist or below and want to develop your professional skills, get career coaching, network with campuswide staff, and learn job search strategies, the Staff Enrichment Program is for you. The yearlong program offers professional development, career coaching, networking strategies and advice on job searches. To be eligible, participants need to have career employment for at least one year; a payroll title of administrative specialist (or equivalent) or below satisfactory rating or better on most current performance evaluation and department endorsement for participation. Participants will need approximately 10 hours of release time each month. The application deadline is Oct. 28. Application forms are available at: http://www.chr.ucla.edu/chr/portaldocs/trng/trngfrm-sep-app.doc. For more details, contact Elizabeth Monaco at emonaco@chr.ucla.edu or (310) 794-0872.

FREE AND ACCESSIBLE

The University of California libraries will partner with Yahoo! Inc. and the Open Content Alliance to build a new, freely accessible digital library with materials drawn from across the world. The UC libraries will contribute books and resources in order to build a collection of out-of-copyright American literature that will include works by many great American authors. With the support of Yahoo, UC library books will be digitized by the Internet Archive using a new technology that scans books at the cost of 10 cents per page. The materials will be available from www.opencontentalliance.org, the Web site of the alliance, a global consortium that will build and openly distribute a comprehensive set of digitized print and multimedia content. "Readers will rejoice to have public domain literary texts available online for anyone who wants to read or work on them," said Richard Terdiman, professor of literature at UC Santa Cruz.

WESTSIDE ROBBERIES

Two robberies occurred in the early morning hours on Oct. 4 on the west side of campus. Both incidents were reported to LAPD-West LA Division. At least one of the victims was a UCLA student. The first robbery occurred at approximately 1 a.m. near the intersection of Midvale and Ophir avenues. The suspect, described as a male Caucasian or Hispanic, 5-foot, 7-inches tall, weighing 170 lbs. and wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans, approached the victim armed with a handgun and demanded money. The victim complied, giving the suspect a wallet containing identification and cash. The suspect was last seen walking westbound on Ophir toward Kelton. The second robbery occurred an hour later near the intersection of Strathmore and Gayley avenues. The suspect, described as a male African American or Hispanic, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black t-shirt and black shorts, approached the victim armed with a handgun and demanded money. The victim handed over a nylon backpack. The suspect was last seen walking westbound on Strathmore toward Levering. The LAPD is investigating both robberies at this time. It is unknown whether these most recent incidents are related to previously reported robberies in the Westwood area. If you have information regarding these incidents, or if you observe any suspicious activities, call UCPD at (310) 825-1491. Or dial 911 if you are having an emergency.

DISCOUNTS FOR LEARNING

UCLA Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute starts its new fall season soon, and staff and faculty are eligible for a discounted membership of $110 for the fall quarter. The institute offers programs and events for adults 50 years and older. Membership includes two free Osher courses, invitations to members-only events, and discounts on additional selected Extension courses and at selected Westwood restaurants. Fall quarter courses include new versions of last spring’s popular “Explorers of New Frontiers; Mind, Body, and Health” as well as new offerings on the power of mythic places, Chinese culture, music, art and literature. Visit uclaextension.edu/osher or call (310) 825-2301.

ADVANCING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Fred H. Bixby Foundation has donated $5 million to the School of Public Health to expand the school’s research, service and training in the fields of population and family planning. The gift will create a permanent center dedicated to these activities, increase support for faculty research and outreach projects and double the number of doctoral fellowships available each year from three to six. Established in 2001 with a generous gift from the same foundation, UCLA’s Bixby Program in Population and Reproductive Health works to advance reproductive health issues, especially in developing countries, through student internships, faculty research, lectures and conferences, and outreach initiatives. Recent student projects have addressed population and reproductive health issues in Guanajuato, Mexico; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and northern India.

WHERE ARE WE?

You’re in Glorya Kaufman Hall. There are two rose windows, one in the main theater, the Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, and another in the dance studio, Room 214. Retaining and refurbishing these beautiful features was an important aspect of the building’s restoration by Moore Ruble Yudell, the architectural firm that led the project.