News in Brief

Asian American Studies Center leader departing in 2009

After more than 18 years as director of the Asian American Studies Center and a 35-year career at UCLA, Professor Don T. Nakanishi has announced he will retire September 2009 to begin work on the advancement of East Los Angeles, where he was born and raised. He will continue to be involved in political and educational issues. Under his leadership, the center has become widely acknowledged to be the nation's premier research center in the field of Asian-American studies, said Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, vice chancellor of graduate studies and dean of the Graduate Division. The AASC Press publishes Amerasia Journal, which Nakanishi co-founded as a Yale undergraduate in 1970, the policy journal AAPI Nexus and other books and pamphlets. During his stewardship of the center, the number of campus specialists in Asian-American studies has grown significantly, from six professors to more than 40 in 25 departments, including the newly established Department of Asian American Studies. Don has also been instrumental in the growth of the center's endowment which now exceeds $6 million and includes three endowed chairs, research funds, graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships and academic prizes. He has also been extraordinarily effective in building bridges from UCLA to the surrounding community and to national organizations and groups. A Magazine identified Don as one of the 100 Most Influential Asian Americans in the United States during the decade of the 1990s and the Smithsonian Institution appointed him to a 25-member national Blue Ribbon Commission to plan for the future of the Smithsonian during the 21st century. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Board of Directors, which administered the nationwide public education and research program that was established under the 1988 Civil Liberties Act that provided a national apology and reparations for the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II. In 2004, he received the Academic Senate’s Fair and Open Academic Environment Award. This November, he will receive the prestigious Yale Medal from his alma mater. Professor Paul M. Ong of Asian American studies and the School of Public Affairs, will chair the search committee for a new director.

New Staff Assembly board members elected

Staff Assembly President Sabrina Lux Wright announced the newly elected 2008-2009 Staff Assembly Executive Board Members: President-Elect Maureen Wadleigh, UCLA Recreation; Vice President-Outreach Armita Parvizi, International Institute; Historian/Secretary Ilana Van Allen, Housing and Hospitality Services; Vice President-Information Systems Gerard Au, Department of English; Treasurer Preethi Thomas, Cotsen Institute of Archeology; Vice President-Programs Sarah Lemke, Department of Psychology; Vice President-Events J. Armando Escobar, Housing and Hospitality Services; and Vice President-Special Projects Dayna Baker, Academic Senate. The new board's term will start on July 1. For more information, see the Staff Assembly website.

Everything you want to know about your eyes

Jules Stein Eye Institute has a new patient information kiosk, sponsored by the JSEI Affiliates, offering information on eye disorders, diseases, clinical trials and treatment options. The kiosk, located in the Pediatric Suite on the second floor of the Doris Stein Eye Research Center, also directs patients to various approved information Web sites, including that of the Jules Stein Eye Institute.

Terry Donahue and other Alumni of the Year are honored

Former head coach for UCLA Bruins football and former general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, Terry Donahue has been named the Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year. Donahue built his team into one of the top programs in the country. During his 20-year career with UCLA, he became the coach with the most wins in Pac-10 (98 league victories) and UCLA (151 wins) history. Also named 2008 Alumni of the Year are attorney David A. Lash, recognized for community service; UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Fred Wudl Professional Achievement, for professional achievement; Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, for public service; Jeffrey A. Seymour, former president of the UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors, for university service. Find bios of all the award-winners at the Alumni Association.

Fowler Museum store sale

June 13–22, enjoy savings of 30–75% on many wonderful items in the Fowler Museum Store, including creative jewelry, wood vases and candlesticks, Asian ceramics, fun totes and purses, mirrors, toys and more. Wednesday-Sunday, noon–5 p.m., Thursday until 8 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. On Friday, June 13, Fowler members receive an additional 20% off.

Largest freshman class

A record 4,889 students of the 12,579 students admitted to UCLA earlier this year indicated by the May 1 deadline that they intend to enroll in UCLA's freshman class this fall. They are expected to comprise the largest freshman class in UCLA history. The entering freshman class is academically outstanding: 84% have fully weighted grade-point averages of 4.0 or more. Nearly one-third from the U.S. are the first in their families to attend college, and nearly a fourth are from low-income families ($44,000 a year or less). Among those students heading for UCLA, underrepresented students — Native Americans, African Americans and Chicanos/Latinos — rose to 21.7% (1,024), up from 19.5% (871) last year. Preliminary figures indicate that the fall freshman class will include 233 (4.9%) African-American freshmen, compared with 210 (4.7%) last year. Asian American students number 1,753 (37.1%); whites/Caucasians, 1,596 (33.8%); Chicanos/Latinos, 778 (16.5%); and Native Americans, 13 (0.3%). About 7.4% (350) declined to state ethnicity or race or identified themselves as "other."

$10-million gift to Anderson

The Anderson School of Management recently received a $10-million gift from Laurence D. Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, and his wife, Lori W. Fink, to provide essential funding for the school's center for finance. In recognition of this gift, the school will rename the center the Laurence D. and Lori W. Fink Center for Finance and Investments. The center will connect research and practice in the field of finance. "With their vision and commitment, we will further enhance the reputation of the center throughout the finance, academic and professional communities, having an impact on national and global financial markets," said Dean Judy Olian. A 1974 alumnus of UCLA and, in 1976, UCLA Anderson, Fink is one of the leading financial executives on Wall Street and currently serves as chair of the finance center's advisory board.

Music and autistic children

For children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), understanding emotions is a very difficult task. Can music help them? With funding from the GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program, researchers at UCLA are about to find out. In an innovative study led by Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, a researcher at the UCLA Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity, music will be used as a tool to explore the ability of children with ASD to identify emotions in musical excerpts and in facial expressions. In this study, Molnar-Szakacs will use "emotional music" to examine the brain regions involved in emotion processing. "Our hypothesis is that if we are able to engage the brain region involved in emotion processing using emotional music, this will open the doorway for teaching children with ASD to better recognize emotions in social stimuli, such as facial expressions," he said.

New staff representative

Edward L. Abeyta, the registrar and director of academic services at UC San Diego, has been selected as the staff advisor-designate to the regents for 2008-09. The action follows a lengthy selection process that began with a call for applicants last January. Abeyta replaces current Staff Advisor-designate Bill Johansen, who will assume the position of staff advisor to the Regents on July 1. Associate Vice President of Human Resources Judy Boyette praised the selection. "Ed brings great dedication to the university and its staff to the position of staff advisor-designate. His selection signals a wonderful addition to the program." Prior to joining UCSD Extension in 1995, Abeyta began his service at UC San Diego as a counselor for the Early Academic Outreach Program. He has a BA from the University of New Mexico, a master's from the University of San Diego and is currently completing his Ph.D. in post-secondary adult education.

New chancellor for UC Riverside

Timothy P. White, president of the University of Idaho, was named chancellor of the UC Riverside by the regents. The appointment, made on the recommendation of UC President Robert C. Dynes, will take effect on or before Sept. 1. An immigrant from Argentina who attended all three systems of California public higher education and received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, White has three decades of experience in public research universities. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Michigan, UC Berkeley and Oregon State University, where he served as provost and executive vice president, and as president on an interim basis, before joining the University of Idaho as president in August 2004. White, 58, has led the renewal of the University of Idaho as president, focusing on strategic planning, diversity and improved communication.

UCOP leases home for next president

The UC Office of the President recently executed a lease agreement for housing and meeting facilities for incoming UC President Mark G. Yudof. UC policy requires that presidents and chancellors live in university-provided facilities in support of the many receptions, business meetings, entertaining and other ceremonial and administrative duties they are required to perform as part of their job. Blake House, a 13,000-square-foot building built in the 1920s that was donated, has been used as personal living quarters by some, but not all, UC presidents and their families during the past decades. But because of its age and significant deferred maintenance issues, Blake House is in need of $7 million in major repair. It also sits on an active geologic slide, which causes continual foundation movement. Because of these circumstances, a 24-month lease on a home in Oakland has been authorized for Yudof and his wife. The house and its furnishings will be leased for $11,360 per month, increasing to $11,750 per month in the second year. An average additional $2,025 per month is expected to be paid for utilities, gardening, garbage collection and related services. A comprehensive assessment of the condition of Blake House is under way.

Former director of Willed Body Program indicted

The former director of UCLA's Willed Body Program and an associate were indicted May 16 in connection with a body-parts-for-profit scheme that they allegedly operated for several years. The defendants, Henry Reid, 58, of Anaheim, the former director, and Ernest Nelson, 50, of Rancho Cucamonga, pleaded not guilty and are free on bail. Reid's bond is $500,000 and Nelson's $350,000. The defendants will return to Los Angeles Superior Court on May 30 for a pretrial hearing, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Reid and Nelson are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft and one count each of grand theft and grand theft of personal property. The indictment alleged the theft was more than $1 million. Nelson additionally was charged with four counts of filing false California tax returns between 1999 and 2003. At the time of the alleged crimes, Nelson owned and operated Empire Anatomical Co., which sold cadavers and human body parts to private companies for medical research. According to the indictment, the men are accused of using bodies donated to the UCLA program for research for their personal financial gain between May 7, 1999, and Feb. 26, 2004. Reid allegedly sold human body parts to Nelson and deposited the funds to his personal bank account. Nelson, in turn, allegedly sold human cadavers and body parts from the UCLA program to more than 20 private firms for more than $1 million.

Best seat in the house

UCLA Athletics is inviting the public June 1 to try out and purchase the only upper-level seat locations available for the 2008-09 UCLA Men's Basketball Season. Bruin fans can visit Pauley Pavilion and get a view from the available seats for purchase on a first-come, first-serve basis. With every new purchase of 2008-09 Men's Basketball season ticket, fans will receive a "UCLA The Dynasty" Basketball DVD covering the John Wooden years (one per account while supplies last). Bruin fans can enter through Gate 15 of Pauley Pavilion. The open house runs from 2– 4 p.m. RSVP here.

New Daily Bruin Online Web site

The UCLA Daily Bruin, one of the first college newspapers to go online, recently launched its revamped Web site. In addition to a new look, the site features video news as part of the newspaper's convergence of its print and television operations. Convergence is a growing movement among professional newspapers, and the Daily Bruin is just the second college newspaper, after the University of Iowa, to restructure its newsroom, and now its online presence, to tell stories using multimedia tools. Daily Bruin Online's new format also features staff blogs, which will give reporters the opportunity to include insights they might not write into their news stories.

National Humanities Center

The National Humanities Center appointed History Professor David W. Sabean a Fellow for 2008-09. He is one of 42 new Fellows chosen from among 400 applicants representing many areas of the humanities. Each Fellow will work individually on a substantial research project. Sabean was given the ASC Fellowship for his project, "Kinship and Incest Discourse in Europe and America Since the Renaissance." See a full list of the Fellows' names, projects and home institutions.

Two sports giants

"Scully & Wooden ... For the Kids," a distinctive "Inside-the-Actor's Studio"-style evening starring Vin Scully and John Wooden and moderated by Los Angeles Times sports columnist T.J. Simers will take place onstage at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live June 13 at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds will be split among the Pediatric Cancer Program at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and pediatric cancer research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope through ThinkCure, the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The two sports icons will share insights, philosophies, memories, observations and wisdom. Official media partners for the event include the Times, AM570 and FOX Sports Net. Ticket prices range from $25 to $200. They are available online at Ticketmaster, via Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000, and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers. See details.

It's a publication party

Attend the UCLA Extension Writers' Program’s annual Publication Party on Wednesday, June 11 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Skirball Cultural Center. Join writers from this program for spirited readings, book signings, complimentary coffee and dessert reception and the opportunity to meet fellow writers. Featured readers are Writers' Program instructors reading from works published in the past year. Doors open at 7 p.m.; readings begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information and to RSVP, e-mail writers@uclaextension.edu or call (310)794-1846.

Honoring musicologist Robert Stevenson

Maestro Donald Neuen will conduct the Angeles Chorale and UCLA Chorale and the American Youth Symphony in the choral masterwork of Johannes Brahms, "A German Requiem," on Saturday, June 7, in Royce Hall at 8 p.m. The concert will also include a performance of "Two Peruvian Preludes: Macchu Picchu, The Inca Retreat," composed by and honoring retired UCLA professor emeritus, musicologist and composer Robert Stevenson, who will also be attending. "'The German Requiem' is one of Brahms' greatest and most emotional triumphs," said Neuen. "What better way to pay tribute to a musical legend, one of the greatest musicologists in the world, than with this masterpiece and Stevenson's own remarkable compositions." Stevenson, world renowned musicologist, joined the Department of Music faculty in 1949, retiring as professor emeritus in 1989. He is the author of 23 books and 743 encyclopedia articles, as well as his own journal InterAmerican Music Review, regarded by many as the finest periodical in the field. Tickets are $40, $30 and $20 with reduced prices for seniors over 60, full-time students and groups of 10 or more. Order at www.angeleschorale.org or (818) 591-1735.