INDEX
2005
February 8,
2005 (Vol. 25, No. 9)
NEWS
BUREAU
BRIEFS
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: UCLA saved $250,000
in energy costs during the winter campus closure.... UC
BOARD OF REGENTS: UC Regents overwhelmingly approved a
plan to improve communication with staff by appointing two staff
representatives to two regentla committees for one year.... GRADUATE
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND INFORMATION STUDIES: The divisiveness
that surfaced during last year's presidential election is showing
up on campuses, according to UCLA's annual survey of the nation's
students entering undergraduate classes.
CHANCELLOR
REASSURES STAFF ON BUDGET PLAN
If you ask Chancellor Albert Carnesale whom he considers
the VIPs of UCLA, he could point to students and faculty. But he’s
also likely to single out campus staff, as he did Jan. 27 at the
annual Town Hall meeting hosted by the UCLA Staff Assembly. “Imagine
a university run by faculty or students,” he said. “The
fact is it is the staff who make it possible to do everything.”
OPTIONS FOR
ONLINE MUSIC, FILMS
Looking for another tool to curb illegal file sharing,
UCLA may soon make it possible for members of the campus community
to have more choices in accessing online music and movie services
legally.
NEWS 2
CAMPUS
BRIEFS
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..... 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..... A ‘GO’ FOR VOYAGER: The
UCLA Library has officially accepted its new online information
system from Endeavor Information Systems.
NEW DEPT. ON
THE RISE
The newly created Department of Chicana and Chicano
Studies will increase the visibility of that field not only on campus,
but throughout the community, said its chair, Reynaldo Macías.
Its future looks bright, as more and more students continue to be
attracted to the field. Hopes are also high that it will one day
house graduate programs.
UCLA IN LA PARTNERSHIPS
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Four faculty members and their community partners who
have worked together to enhance the quality of life for many in
Southern California are winners of the 2004-05 Ann C. Rosenfield
Distinguished Community Partnership Prize, awarded by the UCLA Center
for Community Partnerships.
DID YOU KNOW?
This year, UCLA received more applications than any other
UC campus. But there were slightly fewer than in the previous year.
Some 42,103 applications came in from freshman hopefuls, 2.3% fewer
than last year. About 13,000 students applied to transfer to UCLA
this fall. That’s a 3.4% drop from last year’s number.
YESTERDAY,
TODAY & TOMORROW
INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE: Computer scientist
Deborah Estrin introduced her work in embedded network sensors to
a global community of business, political, intellectual and other
leaders last month at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.....
SUICIDE RATE WORRIES: Challenging recent claims
linking antidepressant use to suicidal behavior, a new UCLA study
shows that American suicide rates have dropped steadily since the
introduction of Prozac and other serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
drugs.... IN THE RUNNING: The regents decided Jan.
20 that UC should submit a competitive proposal to the Department
of Energy to continue its 60-year management of the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory.
PEOPLE
POET REVIVES CLASSIC
COOKERY
Everybody knows that Marco Polo brought spaghetti back to Italy
from China, right?
15 SECONDS
LARRY GROBEL: Lecturer, English Department
NAMES AND FACES
Bravo: Karl
Ross ... Gary Garrels ... Greg Pottie ... Jason Woo.
Well Done: Elwin Svenson
... Department of Neurology ... Bruce Willison.
CAMPUS
TACKLING, SEXUALITY,
GENDER AND GENETICS
Will men one day become extinct? Is Darwin’s theory of
sexual selection a useful tool in under-
standing evolution or is it a “false and unfixable theory,”
as one expert believes, that should be replaced? What can 15th-century
Florence tell us about the history of homosexuality and heterosexuality?
CAMPUS SCIENTISTS
HELP ENDANGERED SPECIES THRIVE
Ten years after the federal government reintroduced gray wolves
to Yellow-
stone National Park, researchers at the UCLA Conservation Genetics
Resource Center are helping wildlife managers keep this and other
endangered species alive and thriving.
'ROUND
AND ABOUT
OLD PHONES NEVER DIE: Don’t toss that old
cell phone in the trashcan. UCLA’s Office of Environment,
Health and Safety has placed drop boxes in Murphy Hall, Powell Library
and the lobby of the Strathmore Building for obsolete cell phones.....
MAKE A DIFFERENCE: UCLA Healthcare’s Volunteer
Services Department will host an open house from 2-4 p.m. on three
upcoming Saturdays.... WE LOVE SLEEPOVERS: UCLA
Recreation is hosting a Valentine’s Day sleepover for youngsters
and teens ages 6-13 at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center so that
parents can take the night off to celebrate on their own..... DANCE
MARATHON SEEKS HELP: Students are looking for staff and
faculty volunteers for UCLA’s Fourth Annual Dance Marathon
Feb. 26-27.
VOICES
TOMORROW'S
WORLD IS HIDDEN IN TODAY'S
Like bulbs lying dormant in the ground before pushing their way
to the surface, the forces ready to transform our world —
in the next two decades, say — are all around us, yet hidden.
And like the bulbs, those forces already contain substance and direction
that we who have planted them cannot clearly discern.
SPIRITUALITY
AND HIGHER EDUCATION: A VITAL LINK
Should spirituality be a legitimate concern for higher education?
Let me first try to clarify what I mean by “spirituality.”
The spiritual domain has to do with human consciousness —
what we experience privately in our subjective awareness. More specifically,
it has to do with our sense of who we are and where we come from,
our beliefs about why we are here and our sense of connectedness
to each other and to the world around us. Spirituality can also
encompass aspects of our experience that are not easy to define
or talk about — such things as intuition, inspiration, the
mysterious and the mystical.
WHAT'S ON
MY MIND: THE DARK SIDE OF VALENTINE'S DAY
Since the 1st century A.D., a phenomenon known as “erotomania,”
or “love addiction,” has come to be universally accepted.
It was scientifically and philosophically codified by the ancient
Greeks. “The fury of love, whenever it seizes man or woman,
sets them in a flame,” wrote Plutarch. “When love is
not reciprocated, it can turn into a state of morbid obsession or
even that of deadly madness.”
OUR WORLD: By MATTHEW
HENRY HALL
CLOSE UP
MAKING STRIDES
TOWARD FACULTY DIVERSITY
Since 2002, Associate Vice Chancellor Rosina
Becerra has headed the Office of Faculty Diversity, which was
created by Chancellor Albert Carnesale as part of his commitment
to diversity as a cornerstone on which to build academic excellence.
Becerra, who has been at UCLA for 30 years as a professor of social
welfare, department chair and dean, leads the campus’ diversity
efforts, which include disseminating information and advice on
enhancing faculty diversity via the Web, faculty workshops and
meetings with faculty, chairs and deans. Her office is involved
in not only educating faculty, but also building a network of
resources to support faculty retention.
UCLA Today Editor Cynthia Lee sat down with Becerra to talk
about her mission and these latest developments.
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