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OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

Education Abroad Program is currently accepting applications for 13 study center directorships. Academic Senate members (tenured UC faculty, including lecturers with security of employment, and professors emeriti) are eligible to apply. Visit www.eap.ucop.edu/faculty/direct.htm for detailed information.  The deadline for applying is 5 p.m. Jan. 17, 2006.

NEW INSIGHTS INTO SCHIZOPHRENIA

In new research that helps to reveal the nature of schizophrenia at the cellular level, UCLA scientists report the discovery of unique DNA sequence variations associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, impairments in short- and long-term memory, and other cognitive deficits. "I hope this is the opening salvo in a new molecular approach to fighting schizophrenia," said Tyrone D. Cannon, UCLA's Staglin Family Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Human Genetics. "If we're able to identify people at risk for the illness through sequence variations in genes and know what biochemical pathways are affected by those variations, we're much closer to the day when we can finally prevent schizophrenia." The research was published in the November issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, the leading journal in psychiatry and psycho-pathology.

NO EASY FEAT

A very massive star collapsed to form a neutron star and not a black hole as expected, according to UCLA research from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. This discovery indicates that nature has a harder time making black holes than previously thought. UCLA astronomers found this neutron star, a dense whirling ball of neutrons about 12 miles in diameter, in an extremely young star cluster. Astronomers were able to use well-determined properties of other stars in the cluster to deduce that the progenitor of this neutron star was at least 40 times the mass of the sun. “Our discovery shows that some of the most massive stars do not collapse to form black holes as predicted, but instead form neutron stars,” said Michael Muno, a UCLA postdoctoral Hubble Fellow and lead author of a paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

COMPENSATION CRITICIZED

The San Francisco Chronicle recently published several critical stories on UC compensation issues, particularly involving senior management. “While the Chronicle omitted or mischaracterized some important facts, the stories also point out the need for us to consider improving our public disclosure policies and internal practices,” said UC President Robert C. Dynes in a Nov. 14 e-mail to UC faculty and staff. While compensation or benefits for certain employees may look high or inappropriate to some, they reflect very real marketplace demands, UC officials said, and still continue to lag the market in many instances. A UC Web site that answers many questions about issues raised in the Chronicle stories has been launched. Visit: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/compensation/welcome.html.

CARDS FOR A CAUSE

Unique holiday cards designed by pediatric patients from Mattel Children's Hospital with messages of hope and healing are now on sale. Proceeds from the sale support special programs for hospitalized children and their families. The collection also includes tribute cards suitable for year-round greetings. Each box holds 20 cards. Holiday cards are $20 per box; tribute cards are $50 per box. Each box of tribute cards is 100% tax-deductible. All prices include shipping and handling. To see the cards and to order online, visit http://www.mattel.ucla.edu. To order, you can also call (310) 825-2631 and press option "6" for more information.

HELP FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS

The UCLA School Management Program has received grants from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the California Community Foundation for a combined total of $244,913. The money will be used during the next two years to help fund programs in Los Angeles County-area public schools and to compile data for use by schools outside Southern California. The California Community Foundation grant of $95,000 will be used for comprehensive professional development and leadership initiatives at three Baldwin Park Unified School District elementary schools. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations grant of $149,913 was awarded to assist the UCLA program in introducing a professional development initiative designed to establish a culture of collaboration using Critical Friends Groups. It also will be used to implement a program called Data Institutes, as well as leadership development at four charter high schools in the Los Angeles area.

BLUE-RIBBON GROUP

The UCLA Library has created a Board of Visitors composed of prominent businesspeople, philanthropists and educators. Members are Roy Aaron, mediator, arbitrator, and business consultant and former president of the UCLA Foundation; Fereshteh Diba, chief financial officer of Gas Conditioners International; Bill Flumenbaum, senior vice president in the personal investment management division of  Capital Guardian Trust Company; Robert M. Hayes, UCLA professor emeritus in information studies; Ken Karmiole, owner of Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller Inc.; Ynez O’Neill, medical educator, researcher and professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine; Norman Powell, retired executive of British Petroleum, and his wife, Armena; Leon Rootenberg, principal with Rootenberg Rosenthal Accountants and a director of B & L Rootenberg Rare Books; Charlie Steinmetz, project manager of the UCLA Cultural Virtual Reality Lab and trustee of the Steinmetz Foundation; Patsy and Robert Sung, president of CNI Systems Inc., (Robert Sung) and trustees of the Edna and Yu-Shan Han Foundation; and Charles E. Young, chancellor emeritus of UCLA.

NEED TO BORROW A LAPTOP?

Any UCLA student, staff or faculty member with a BruinCard and a Bruin OnLine ID/password can check out a laptop for up to four hours. And it just got easier to do. The College Library Instructional Computing Commons (CLICC) and the UCLA Library recently launched new laptop lending kiosks to speed up the process of checking out CLICC laptops. Just walk up to the kiosk, punch in your Bruin OnLine ID and password, swipe your BruinCard and check out a laptop. Returning a laptop is easy as well. All laptops can access UCLA's wireless network, and maps to both wired ports and wireless areas are available at all CLICC laptop lending desks. Laptops can be borrowed from the following libraries: Powell, Young Research Library, Music (Schoenberg Hall), Science and Engineering (Boelter Hall), Geology (Geology Bldg.), Biomedical Library, and coming soon to the Chemistry library (Young Hall). Hours vary so check www.clicc.ucla.edu for more information.

WEIGH IN ON UC'S FUTURE

President Robert C. Dynes has launched a long-range planning process that is focusing on what UC will need to do by the year 2025 to meet the needs of the state and to preserve academic quality. Members of UC’s Long-Range Guidance Team are seeking input from critical UC stakeholders, including alumni and staff members, on the issues they see facing the university in the year 2025. An opportunity to have an electronic dialogue with UC leaders is scheduled for alumni on Dec. 7 between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and for staff on Jan. 11 between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. To participate in the Web chat, visit: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc2025/webchat2025.html.

BRAIN TUMORS

Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer have identified key characteristics in certain deadly brain tumors that make them 51 times more likely to respond to a specific class of drugs than tumors in which the molecular signature is absent. The discovery of the telltale molecular signature – the expression of a mutant protein and the presence of a tumor suppressor protein called PTEN – will allow researchers to identify patients who are likely to respond to the drug treatment before they undergo therapies that are not likely to work, said Paul Mischel, an associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. Mischel and his colleagues said in the Nov. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that the discovery could change the way doctors treat glioblastomas, the most common type of malignant brain tumor and one of the those lethal forms of cancer.

HONORS FROM ITALY

Professor Massimo Ciavolella, chair of the Italian Department, has been named Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) by the president of the Italian Republic, His Excellency Carlo Ciampi. The honor is the highest of three honorary titles awarded each year and is given to 10 individuals who have contributed to the rebuilding of Italy and of Italian culture. Honorees are nominated by Italian consuls and ambassadors and approved by the Italian minister of state. The Italian Consul, Diego Brasioli, will soon preside over a ceremony at UCLA when Ciavolella will receive his medal, a five-pointed star.