INDEX 1996

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996 (Vol. 17, No. 3)

 

This index page is for reference only; stories in this issue are not available online. Print editions may be found in the periodicals stacks of the Charles Young Research Library.

 

AROUND CAMPUS - A 17-member committee of regents, faculty, students, staff and representatives of the alumni association and UCLA Foundation has been appointed by UC President Richard C. Atkinson to advise him on the selection of a new chancellor for UCLA to succeed Charles E. Young, who will retire in June 1997. . . . Health Care - A new area of research in the UCLA AIDS Institute is getting substantial support from a San Diego-based philanthropic organization. The McCarthy Family Foundation recently donated $160,000 to help researchers use non-invasive Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging to better understand HIV infection. . . . Public Policy - J. Eugene Grigsby III, planner and former head of the Center for African American Studies, has been named director of the Advanced Policy Institute (API), one of the chief outreach programs of the School of Public Policy and Social Research. . . . Dentistry - UCLA has become one of the first universities in the country to integrate all of its dental postdoctoral programs into its medical center, a move that enables dental residents to work with medical colleagues on more complicated cases.

 

NATION'S FACULTY TEACHING MORE, RESEARCHING LESS - College and university faculty increasingly are dedicating more time and energy to teaching students and less to research despite a common public perception otherwise. A new UCLA survey of the nation's faculty also indicates a growing interest in the issues of diversity and multiculturalism in all aspects of faculty work. "Embracing these topics could reflect the burgeoning commitment to students at a time of increasing student-body diversity," said Alexander Astin, co-author of the study and director of the Higher Education Research Institute.

 

OCEAN DISCOVERY CENTER, RESTORED POWELL LIBRARY OPEN THEIR DOORS - Two colorful events -- one that brought smiles to the faces of schoolchildren and another that elicited cheers from their older counterparts on the UCLA campus -- launched the new school year in style. When the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center finally opened earlier this month, a wave of youngsters washed through the portals and down the gangway into the 4,000-square-foot space under the Santa Monica Pier.

 

BUFFED-UP JOE BRUIN MELLOWS TO WIN BACK HIS FANS - Sometimes being a campus mascot can be downright emBEARassing. Unfortunately for the mighty metamorposed Joe Bruin and his keepers, that's what they discovered Jan. 24 when the buffed-up Bruin made his splashy on-stage debut for a pep rally before UCLA's basketball game against USC. Alas, the only ringing cheers of approval for the bear with the bug-eyed stare, Schwarzenegger build and eccentric teeth-baring grin came from the UCLA Spirit Squad. What the public perceived was not pretty.

 

NEWS IN BRIEF – Fund-Raising Leader – The University of California received $721 million in private support in 1995-'96, the second consecutive year of record-breaking fund-raising . . . .New Appointees - William G. Ouchi, professor of strategy and organization at the Anderson Graduate School of Management, has been appointed vice dean and faculty director of the Executive Education Program. Debra-Lynn Solis, former associate director, has been named acting director. . . . Cates Farewell – Gilbert Cates, dan of the School of Theater, Film and Television, has announced plans to stem down as dean to devote more time to his career as a director and producer. . . .Power-Sharing - Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recently presented UCLA with a certificate of appreciation for providing emergency electrical power to West Los Angeles, crippled by power outages in the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. . . . Bruin Cub Care - Child Care Services has immediate openings available for children ages 2 months to 5 years. A limited number of spaces are available in the Bellagio and Fernald child care centers on campus. Additional spaces are open at Colina Glen Preschool and University Village.

 

WORKER KILLED IN FOILED ROBBERY REMEMBERED – As homicide detectives continued to follow up on the many tips they have received following the Sept. 15 fatal shooting of a UCLA Central Ticket Office employee, colleagues and friends of Kevin Jeske expressed their feelings of deep loss with bouquets of flowers placed at the spot outside the James West Alumni Center where he died and at a memorial service Tuesday at the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum.

 

DID YOU KNOW? - Approximately 90% of the incoming freshman class now call UCLA home. In total, 6,052 students are living in campus residence halls this fall, paying one of 30 different rates that range from a low of $5,020 a year for a three-person high-rise room and 11 meals weekly to a high of $7,395 a year for a two-person room in Sunset Village and 19 meals a week.

 

BIOLOGIST EXPOSES STUDENTS TO EXOTIC FIELD RESEARCH - Among Peter Narins' treasured souvenirs collected over 18 years of teaching at UCLA is an old photo of 15 biology students taken during a rigorous field trip to a rain forest in Puerto Rico. "By day, they learn about plant adaptation; at night, they are observing the behavior of frogs and insects," Narins explained. "They're so tired they come home horizontal. But they always come home with smiles on their faces." Such hardships haven't discouraged hundreds of UCLA students from signing up for the annual Field Biology Quarter innovated by Narins, who is world-renowned for his studies of frogs and how they communicate; he hopes that someday his research will help to improve hearing aids for humans.

 

NAMES AND FACES – Notables – Sondra D. Hale, Donald A. Adams, Josephine B. Isabel-Jones, John C. Mazziotta, and David H. Solomon. . . .Grants – David Hirsch and Michael H. Chase. . . .In Memoriam – Ana Constance Coiner, Ana Duarte-Coiner, and Oliver Bailey Garver Jr. . . .Getting It Straight – David Eisenberg.

 

MURALIST PAINTS SOCIAL MESSAGE - Judith Baca's first forays into the art world came almost by accident. As a young child growing up in a Mexican-American family in Watts and Pacoima, Baca spoke only Spanish. Her classmates ridiculed her because she didn't speak English. So she found solace in coloring books and paintbrushes in the classroom. "In the 1950s, people were punished for speaking Spanish, and I became very quiet and withdrawn in the classroom," said Baca, a professor of art at UCLA's Chávez Center for Chicana and Chicano Studies. "I still remember my kindergarten teacher setting me aside and giving me shiny little tin cans full of colored paint and newspapers. I spent a lot of time in the corner painting. It was the way I could communicate best; it was my solitary activity."

 

WHO'S NEW – Betsy Stephenson

 

CULTURE WATCH – In The Works - A top official from a museum in Santiago, Chile, is at UCLA to plan with the Fowler Museum of Cultural History a major exhibition on the Mapuche culture of central Chile. Francisco Mena, deputy director of the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, is working on the project with Glenn Russell, the Fowler's curator of archaeological collections. . . . Surreal Experience - On view currently at the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum is the distinguished Kaplan Collection of surrealist prints, including many rare works by Arp, de Chirico, Dali, Duchamp, Ernst, Magritte, Man Ray, Matta, Miro and Tanguy. . . . Ritual Fabrics - An exhibition of 50 magnificent ritual cloths representing the highest achievements of the Iban women weavers of Borneo will end its run at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History Oct. 20. . . .Something New - Choreographer Twyla Tharp brings her new company of 14 dancers to the Wiltern Theatre tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. for three premieres. . . .Encore, Please - If you missed the UCLA Musical Theater Workshop's popular production of "Godspell" from the last school year, the Department of Music is giving you another chance. The same student cast will be on stage Oct. 11-20 at Schoenberg Hall for this musical production, based on the gospel of Matthew.

 

PLAYHOUSE BRINGS PROFESSIONAL THEAER TO UCLA - Showy and theatrical as it is, Los Angeles has never enjoyed much of a reputation as a serious theater town. There's one towering giant -- the Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum, which by the way began life in 1959 as the Theatre Group at UCLA C and then there are the rest. Usually situated in tiny 99-seat (or less) Equity-waiver playhouses, these other theaters sometimes do estimable work, but often go unnoticed by the larger part of the theater-going public.

 

'ROUND AND ABOUT – Brainstorming – The Council of UC Staff Assemblies, including two staff representatives from each UC campus, recently met at Murphy Hall to set goals and priorities for the new school year. . . .Cosmic Thought - University Extension, in cooperation with the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life, is offering an eight-part series, "The Origin and Development of the Cosmos: What We Know and How We've Come to Know It," Oct. 10-Dec. 5. The program will feature illustrated lectures by leading UCLA researchers on issues ranging from the Big Bang and the birth of stars and galaxies to the discussion of intelligent life in the universe. . . . Down On The Ranch - A 67-acre living laboratory and outdoor classroom featuring chaparral, oak woodland, grassland and riparian ecosystems are open for use by researchers or teachers. UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve is located four miles inland from the coast between Malibu and Calabasas. . . . Medical Jobs - A new employment office has opened up to fill available jobs in the departments in the UCLA Medical Center, School of Medicine, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital and Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center. . . .Come to the Fair – A business opportunity fair to lear about products and services of companies hoping to do business with JCLA will be held Oct. 2 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Ackerman Union Grand Ballroom.

 

COPING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF TRAGEDY - I did not have the good fortune to know Kevin Jeske, but the psychological aftermath of the tragic death of Kevin Jeske at UCLA last week will linger for some time to come. Those who knew him will likely have reactions different from those who didn't know him, but the impact will be felt by nearly all of us. The murder of Kevin was sudden, violent and senseless and leaves us feeling vulnerable and unsafe. We think of our campus as a haven and take for granted that we are safe. But Kevin's murder has shattered a fundamental sense of security.

 

HOPE FOR YOUNG MINDS - My son has started first grade. Although he is endlessly interesting to his father and me, ordinarily this alone would not merit him space on the Opinion Page. But this year is different. This year, first grade is big news. Really big news. This year Pete Wilson has determined will be the turning point for California's lousy public schools. When we raise those dreadful reading and math scores. To that end the governor has taken a radical step: he's ordered that class size be reduced. From now on, every primary classroom in the public schools in California will have no more than 20 students. My son, along with a million or so other first graders, will be part of the first generation to benefit.

 

FACULTY TRYING HARD TO STRIKE RIGHT BALANCE - Contrary to the public perception that faculty are interested primarily in their research and believe that teaching merely gets in the way, a national survey shows that faculty are in fact dedicating more time and energy to teaching students and less to research. Currently, three out of four faculty say their interests lean more towards teaching than research. The UCLA Higher Education Research Institute survey also shows that faculty are adopting more student-centered teaching styles, such as group projects and cooperative learning, and are moving away from the traditional lecture format. These new teaching methods encourage students to become more active participants in the learning process and provide skills in collaboration that will ultimately aid students in the workplace.

 

YOUNG ON MAKING A GREAT UNIVERSITY - Chancellor Charles E. Young, who has announced he will retire June 30, 1997, recently was interviewed on his unprecedented 28 years at the helm of UCLA. What follows are excerpts from more than five hours of conversation. UCLA Today will be publishing additional excerpts throughout the year.