News in Brief

Hospital opening delayed

The opening of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center — including the transfer of hospital patients described in the March 18 issue of UCLA Today — has been postponed. The date change is the result of a March 26 water leak caused by the faulty installation of a commercial coffee maker, which caused flooding on several floors and required extensive cleanup and repairs. The hospital is working in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health to reschedule an inspection date and is fully focused on preparations for this next important milestone.

Innovators in IT

UC is seeking applications for the Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology. Named for UC Riverside's former associate vice chancellor for computing and communications, the Sautter Award is open to faculty and staff from all UC campuses, the UC Office of the President and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The program, sponsored by the UC IT Leadership Council, recognizes innovative deployment of information technology in support of the university's mission of teaching, research and public service. The Sautter Award program presents three Golden Awards and two Silver Awards, as well as honorable mentions. Winners will be announced at the annual UC Computing Services Conference July 20-22 at UC Santa Barbara. The application deadline is May 23. Find more information.

At the top

UCLA's clinical psychology program secured a No. 1 nationwide ranking in the latest survey of graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report, released March 31. In addition, UCLA has eight programs among the top 10, including English, history, political science, psychology, sociology, fine arts, medicine and education. All told, UC campuses had five No. 1-ranked programs in the magazine's annual survey. Overall, UC campuses had more than 40 programs ranked in the top 10. To view the U.S. News graduate school rankings online, visit: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandrevinews.com/grad

Health center in Sun Valley

The new Sun Valley Health Center was officially dedicated April 2 in a ceremony that drew Los Angeles city and county officials and area residents the clinic will serve. The 10,840 square-foot facility on the grounds of Sun Valley Middle School is a joint project of the Department of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the Northeast Valley Health Corp. It will provide primary healthcare to the area's low-income and largely uninsured population.

Crime report for 2007

Serious crime (Part I) fell 8% in 2007 from the previous year, according to the annual crime report just released by the UCPD. Part I crimes include forcible rape, robbery, assault, burglary and arson. Incidents of violent crime, however, went up 26% from 90 offenses in 2006 to 113 offenses in 2007, primarily because of the increased number of assaults. Overall, Part I offenses fell from 1,165 in 2006 to 1,070 in 2007. Robberies declined approximately 28% while burglaries by forcible entry fell 15%. One factor that led to the decrease was the arrest of individuals who were responsible for multiple crimes, UCPD said. To see the annual report, go to www.ucpd.ucla.edu.

Nominate staff for staff awards and scholarships

The UCLA Staff Assembly is accepting nominations and applications for its annual recognition awards and scholarships. These include the $5,000 Excellence in Service presented to a staff member whose career reflects outstanding service and citizenship to the UCLA and the community; the Faculty/Staff Partnership Award to recognize faculty members who actively develop and encourage faculty/staff partnerships; and staff scholarships in support of career enhancement and professional growth. In addition to these annual awards, this year the Administrative Management Group (AMG) in partnership with Campus Human Resources will present the new Excellence in Leadership (EXCEL) Award to a staff member who has had a significant and lasting impact on the people that he or she leads, while also making broad contributions to the campus. Nomination deadline is May 5. Find program criteria and application/nomination forms at this Staff Assembly Web site. For the EXCEL Award see the AMG Web site.

Ex-Black Panther to give Thurgood Marshall Lecture

UCLA alumna Elaine Brown, a former Black Panther leader and an advocate for radical reform of the criminal justice system, will deliver the 2008 Thurgood Marshall Lecture at UCLA on Thursday, April 17. The event, which is named for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and benefits the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and a program at 7 p.m. in the Grand Horizon Room at UCLA's Covel Commons. "As a UCLA student in 1969, Ms. Brown was present at the infamous Campbell Hall shootings, which erupted out of a meeting to negotiate the leadership and direction of what later that year would become UCLA's Center for Afro-American Studies," said Darnell Hunt, director of the Bunche Center and a UCLA sociology professor. "It is particularly fitting that we should welcome back Ms. Brown to UCLA this year, as the struggle to enroll more black students at UCLA continues amidst some recent successes, and as the student-initiated proposal that evolved into the Bunche Center approaches its 40th anniversary." For details on the dinner, call (310) 206-8267.

New grant to target kidney transplants for children

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Mattel Children's Hospital and several partner institutions $6 million to explore new ways to make kidney transplants more tolerable for children. The five-year grant, part of the NIH's Clinical Trials in Organ Transplantation in Children program, will support studies on pediatric renal transplantation by researchers at UCLA, Emory University's School of Medicine, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. Each center will focus on a specific aspect of improving long-term outcomes for kidney transplant patients. UCLA will concentrate on adolescent patients, particularly those between the ages of 13 and 19, who, research has shown, may have less favorable long-term outcomes than other patients.