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INDEX
2006
January 24, 2006
(Vol. 26, No. 8)
NEWS
BRIEFS ONLINE
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.... 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.... 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.... DINNER ANG 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..... 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.... 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.... 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.... 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.... 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 collection..... 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..... 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.... 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.... 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.... 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..... 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.... 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.
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.
NEWS IN BRIEF
PIONEERS OF SPINTRONICS: The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is teaming up with leading nanoelectronics researchers across California to launch what will be one of the world’s largest joint research programs focusing on the pioneering new technology called “spintronics.” The Western Institute of Nanoelectronics, with starting grants of $18.2 million, will be headquartered at UCLA Engineering and led by Electrical Engineering Professor Kang Wang.... REBUTTAL ON COMPENSATION: UC officials released Jan. 11 a detailed breakdown of the $871 million that the San Francisco Chronicle alleged UC distributed in 2004-05 in “bonuses, administrative stipends and other hidden compensation.”.... BUDGET NEWS: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006-07 state budget proposal released Jan. 10 would fulfill his compact with the UC and provide a second year of increased funding after four years of cuts. His plan provides state funds to “buy out” student fee increases and, when combined with other university revenue sources, fund an average 4% increase in employee compensation, subject to collective bargaining requirements.... TOP SCIENCE STORIES OF 2005: Three UCLA research projects were named among the top 100 science stories of the year by Discover magazine in its January issue..... IN HONOR OF A BRUIN: The UCLA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campus Resource Center held a dedication ceremony on Jan. 20 to name its library after Rae Lee Siporin, former director of undergraduate admissions.
STUDY SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON DAY LABORERS
You see them waving from street corners, sometimes mobbing cars that stop. Most are undocumented immigrant day laborers looking for work — fixing a roof, erecting a fence or helping you move — and they’re a vital but widely abused part of the nation’s labor market, according to a new study co-authored by Abel Valenzuela Jr., associate professor of Chicano/a studies and urban planning.
Sidebar: Students give day laborers a voice
WELCOMING BACK A SPECIAL LADY
For the last 75 years, Louise Kerckhoff has existed in the shadow of her esteemed husband, William.
WANTED: SOMEONE WITH 'FIRE IN THE BELLY' TO SPEAK TO REGENTS FOR ALL STAFF
If you: a) are a career employee who has worked at UCLA for at least five years; b) care deeply about the quality of life on campus for all staff; and c), feel you have strong leadership ability, the two Daves are looking for you.
UC COMPENSATION TO BE REVIEWED
Under heavy criticism for its compensation practices and policies and the lack of public disclosure, the UC is responding aggressively with a series of initiatives aimed at “fulfilling the University’s responsibilities to openness and accountability as a public institution,” said President Robert C. Dynes. The actions include hiring an independent auditor, creating a top-level task force and building trust by publishing more detailed compensation information on Web sites.
Regent Judith Hopkinson, chair of the Special Committee on Compensation, predicted that the flurry of reports and reviews will produce a major overhaul of policies and procedures and “a far, far better and more transparent system.”
UCLA WARNS GROUP TARGETING FACULTY
It’s not right to give or sell professors’ lecture notes and course materials to somebody else. That’s the message UCLA’s legal counsel delivered to students and a conservative group that’s offered to pay them for material from the classes of “radical” professors.
PEOPLE
NEW DEAN SETS AMBITIOUS AGENDA
For the first time in the school’s 70-year history, a woman has taken the helm of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
BRIDGING TOWN AND GOWN
Diana Brueggemann, executive director of local government relations in the Office of Government and Community Relations, is glad to be on campus.
APPLAUSE
James Elaine, Aimee Chang, Christopher Miles, Isidro Salusky, Steven Bochco, Philip Kent, Harlan P. Kleiman, Harry Evans Sloan, UCLA's International Institute
NAMES & FACES
Linda Sarna, Robin Farias-Eisner, Mitch Chang, Douglas Yale Longshore
IN MEMORIAM
Douglas Yale Longshore
OUT & ABOUT
STUDENTS AT THE GETTY VILLA MAKE ANCIENT ARTIFACTS WHOLE AGAIN
Christian de Brer held up to eye level a pre-Columbian ceramic vessel. A UCLA/Getty master’s student in archaeological and ethnographic conservation, de Brer was to prepare the piece for public display, but that was easier said than done.
SYMPOSIUM TO EXPLORE STEM CELL PROMISE, PERILS
More than a year ago, Californians passed Proposition 71, giving stem cell proponents a solid vote of confidence — and scientists $3 billion for research — in the hope that this experimental therapy might close in on cures for ailments ranging from Alzheimer’s to heart disease.
CLASS TAPS FLOWER POWER TO PRESERVE HABITAT
For most of the year, the gently undulating ridge near Gorman serves as a largely unremarkable backdrop to Interstate 5. But for a few special weeks in early spring, the drab hillside erupts in poppies, lupines and other brilliantly hued wildflowers, transforming the landscape with vibrant living color.
NOT TO BE MISSED:
Puccini Operas. Opera UCLA and UCLA Philharmonia bring to life Giacomo Puccini’s one-act operas, “Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicchi.” They’ll be performed in Italian with supertitles. Jan. 27 and 29 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 3 and 5 at 2 p.m. in Schoenberg Hall. $20. www.music.ucla.edu.
VOICES
RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN UC PAY PRACTICES
All organizations have to determine pay levels for professionals and high-level executives. In recent years, controversies have erupted over high pay of CEOs and other executives in private corporations. Similar controversies have now erupted in nonprofit and public institutions, such as the Getty Trust and the University of California. In the case of universities, questions have been raised not only about executive pay but also about faculty salaries.
SOUND BYTES
I think I’m in pretty good shape for someone eligible for Medicare. I bike for an hour or do the Santa Monica steps thrice a week. I walk daily and mow my own lawn. I play tennis and ski. But alas, to the horror of my daughters, I didn’t go to a gym until about a year ago.
CAMPUS
WHAT'S BRICK, CONCRETE AND GREEN ALL OVER? LA KRETZ HALL
On this day, it’s whisper-quiet in the large room where the staff of the UCLA Institute of the Environment (IOE) works. In reality, a silent revolution is in progress here. It’s in the carpet and the chair offered to visitors. It’s in the padded partitions that make up the office cubicles, the air they breathe, the light that beams down from the room’s 13-foot-high ceiling.
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