:: Home

Online Briefs

Salary structure approved

The Board of Regents took action Jan. 18 to ensure oversight of appropriate compensation levels for UC’s senior managers as well as public accountability. The regents adopted a base salary structure establishing salary grades and ranges for administering base compensation for the Senior Leadership Compensation Group (SLCG) positions. Those eligible will be slotted into specific salary ranges to ensure competitive base pay compensation that is comparable to those in the markets in which UC competes for employees. The board will set a salary range structure for all senior management positions above $168,000 based on external consultant review. For UC’s top 32 positions, the regents will continue to approve individual salaries and salary adjustments. For others above the $168,000 level -- but not among the top 32 -- the president will determine salaries within the new structure.

Helping end genocide in Darfur

Instead of shedding its investments in Sudan, the UC Board of Regents voted Jan. 19 to tell its foreign investments fund managers that it has strong concerns about university dollars being invested in companies engaged in significant business relationships that help make it possible for the Sudan government to continue acts of genocide in Darfur. As an additional step, the regents will also establish a task force to consider a more detailed plan to identify a specific list of offending companies and divest from them as well as the legal and financial implications of divestment upon the university.

New Chair in Israel studies

UCLA’s International Institute has received a pledge of $1 million from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation to endow a permanent chair in Israel studies, which will enhance the institute's role as a leading center for research and education on Israel. Upon approval of the Gilbert Foundation Chair by UC President Robert C. Dynes, an international search will formally begin for an eminent senior scholar whose research addresses key issues of contemporary Israel. An informal working group already has begun to explore the pool of potential candidates. "All of us in international studies at UCLA are excited and grateful that the Gilbert Foundation has made possible this major advance in our program in Israel studies," said Ronald Rogowski, interim vice-provost for international studies and dean of the International Institute.

Dinner and good times

Each year, through Dinners for 12 Strangers, UCLA Alumni Association members open their homes to students, faculty, staff members, and fellow alumni for small dinner parties, bringing them together in a warm, friendly environment for good food, conversation and Bruin camaraderie. This year, dinners will be held Feb. 26 and March 4 and 5. Faculty and staff participation provide the link between students and alumni. Your presence is the key to the program's success. If you’d like to be part of these gathering, go to www.uclalumni.net/CalendarEvents/d12/faculty/invitation.cfm. Submit an RSVP form online, and you will be placed on an invitation list for a dinner. You'll then receive more information, along with a list of those in your dinner party.

Super Stars

An international team of astronomers reported evidence for the formation of mysterious "super star clusters" Jan. 9 at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C. Using the Very Large Array Telescope, the astronomers detected radio-infrared "super nebulae" around giant star clusters in the process of formation in a dozen nearby galaxies. "The super nebulae are gas clouds heated by intense ultraviolet light from young super star clusters," said Chao-Wei Tsai, UCLA astronomy graduate student and leader of the team. “The super star clusters hidden within these super nebulae are probably a lot like globular clusters in our own Milky Way, only younger, and they can contain up to a million young stars," said Jean Turner, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy and a member of the team, along with Sara C. Beck of Tel Aviv University. "The mystery is why our own Milky Way no longer forms globular star clusters and hasn't for 10 billion years. These galaxies still can. We want to know why. This is star formation on steroids."

Laurels to them

A California congressman, a philanthropist and a broadcast journalist are among this year’s recepients of the UCLA Alumni Awards. The list of awardees was recently announced by Keith E. Brant, executive director of the UCLA Alumni Association and assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations. Named Alumnus of the Year is Congressman Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands. CBS 2/KCAL 9 journalist Linda Alvarez will be honored for professional achievement; Peace Corps health training specialist Theresa Elders for community service; Michael Soderberg, chief of detectives, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, for public service; and UCLA philanthropist and former chair of the UCLA Foundation Roy Aaron for university service. An event to recognize these alumni as well as distinguished faculty and outstanding students will be held June 4.

UC’S report card

As required by its compact with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the UC recently submitted its first annual accountability report to the governor on its performance, evaluated by measures considered important to the state of California. The UC is achieving success in facilitating timely graduation, effective community college transfer, degree production in high-priority areas for the state, and transfer of research innovations to the marketplace, according to the report. For example, UC awarded 54,477 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and first professional degrees in 2004-05. The number of bachelor's degrees awarded has increased 18% over four years. Also, graduation rates have shown substantial improvement over time. Average time-to-degree at UC is 13 quarters, and 80% of entering UC freshmen graduate within six years. To see the full report, go to www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/budget/compact2005report.pdf.

On the road to recovery

UCLA administrators recently sent a clear message to Gulf Coast-area students who enrolled here last fall after their studies were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina: With the reopening of your home campus, it’s time to say adieu. While the final numbers on Winter Quarter enrollment are still pending, administrators said they believe the vast majority of the approximately 100 students enrolled for fall classes through UCLA Extension have gone back to their colleges and universities, an important step in their recovery efforts.  “Our policy has always been that when their schools reopen, they had to go back,” said Vice Chancellor Janina Montero, who sent a letter to students Oct. 27 explaining their options. If students wanted to remain at UCLA under Extension’s Concurrent Enrollment program through June, they could do so. But they would have to pay regular fees and resolve the problem of transferring UCLA credits to their institutions. Students could also apply for admission to UCLA for 2006-07, but their applications would be given the same consideration as those of any student.

Book competition

The UCLA Library will hold a book collecting workshop on Feb. 12 for students interested in entering the 2006 Robert B. and Blanche Campbell Student Book Collection Competition, which recognizes students for outstanding book collections. The competition offers a total of $2,250 in various prizes for an undergraduate collection, graduate collection and children’s book collection. The workshop starts at 3 p.m. in the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, located in room A1713.  The deadline for submitting entries is 5 p.m. April 5. 

Gold Shield winner wanted

The Gold Shield Faculty Prize is a $30,000 award to a midcareer full professor in a department that offers an undergraduate program. This year’s winner will be selected from the “North Campus” divisions and schools.  Detailed information is available at:
http://www.senate.ucla.edu/committee/GSFP/gold_shield.htm. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 27.

Crime Alert

The UCLA Police Department released a sketch of a suspect involved in seven incidents of sexual battery against female students that have occurred near campus between Dec. 15 and Jan. 10. All the victims told police a white male with dark curly hair approached them from behind and grabbed or tried to grab their breasts before fleeing on foot. The man being sought is approximately 22 years old, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-11 and around 150 pounds. All of the incidents occurred on Kelton, Gayley and Landfair avenues. Anyone with information on these cases should call the police at (310) 825-1491.  To see a sketch, go to www.ucpd.ucla.edu.

AAU-bound

Robert M. Berdahl, former chancellor of UC Berkeley and former president of the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as the new president of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an association of 62 leading public and private research universities. Berdahl will take his new position in the spring, upon completion of a teaching commitment at Berkeley. He will succeed Nils Hasselmo, who announced his retirement in September. 

A sign of Alzheimer disease

A new UCLA imaging study shows that age-related breakdown of myelin, the fatty insulation coating the brain’s internal wiring, correlates strongly with the presence of a key genetic risk factor for Alzheimer disease. The study also demonstrates how genetic testing coupled with non-invasive evaluation of myelin breakdown through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may prove useful in assessing treatments for preventing the disease. “These new findings offer, for the first time, compelling genetic evidence that myelin breakdown underlies both the advanced age and the principal genetic risks for Alzheimer disease,” said George Bartzokis, professor of neurology at the Geffen School of Medicine.

Microsoft donates $4.5 million

With federal funds for basic computer science research at universities in decline, the Microsoft Corporation is helping to fill the void with a $4.5-million donation of software to the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Microsoft will donate the software to the school’s computer science, engineering and information systems areas. The software can be loaded onto departmental lab machines as well as engineering students’ personal computers, as long as they are used for instructional and nonprofit research purposes. Computer scientists have grown increasingly alarmed that federal support for basic research is rapidly eroding. Said Sam Stokes, Microsoft’s academic relations manager for the SoCal region: “When Microsoft makes an investment in providing first-class computer science education to students at UCLA Engineering and around the world, the whole industry will see the benefits through highly skilled and well-rounded IT workers.”

Nurses’ contract

The University of California announced Dec. 17 that the agreement made between UC and the California Nurses Association on a new two-year contract was officially ratified by UC nurses. Under the agreement UC will give all UC nurses 4% salary increases on Jan. 1, 2006, in addition to the market increases that UC gave to nurses in September while at the bargaining table with the union. Other key issues regarding nurse staffing and patient lifting were also resolved. Each UC medical center will settle conflicts over perceived staffing ratio issues with internal review committees, with the possibility of final resolution through a neutral third party. In addition, each UC medical center will implement a lift policy that would provide patient transfer and lifting devices, or lift teams to assist with patient lifting.

Dollars for cancer research

More than $600,000 was raised for research at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center during a benefit held for the world premiere of the movie musical “The Producers” on Dec. 12 at the new flagship multiplex Westfield Century City AMC Theatres. All the theater complex’s seats were dedicated to the premiere and benefit, and more than 2,300 people attended, including cast members Matthew Broderick, Will Ferrell, Jon Lovitz and Uma Thurman. A post-premiere party followed the screening. Westfield Century City also hosted a special promotion in which shoppers and supporters purchased for $1 a Jonsson Cancer Center Band of Research wristband embossed with the slogan, “The End of Cancer Begins with Research.”

Did you know?

Scrolling through endless reels of microfilm may be a thing of the past, at least for researchers using the Los Angeles Times. The UCLA Library has licensed access to the Times via the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database, which offers full-page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue in 1881 through 1985. Contents, which include every page of every available issue, can be searched in a variety of ways, including document text, author, date, or type, such as article, ad, editorial, and obituary. The database is available at <http://uclibs.org/PID/10355> to anyone on the UCLA network or accessing the network through the Bruin OnLine proxy server.