You might have noticed the map on the front page of today’s LA Times that shows that the Santa Monica fault is rather close to the campus. See:http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-earthquake-fault-building-20131230-dto,0,1585622.htmlstory However, unlike UC-Santa Cruz, we don’t get naming rights: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELDcYugrp3c?feature=player_detailpage]
Jerry Brown will almost certainly be running for re-election in 2014. It doesn’t look like there will be much of a contest but there will be at least some effort devoted to the campaign. But apart from re-election, Brown is facing some “legacy” problems. During his first iteration as governor, he wasn’t big – to say the least – on grand infrastructure, unlike his father Pat. However, this time around, there is the high-speed rail project and the water tunnel project, both grand and expensive. These projects are analogs to his dad’s freeways and state water project. The high speed…
With a possible pension initiative coming to the ballot, it would be nice if public pension plans stayed on Good Behavior. Alas: Federal investigators are looking into allegations that CalPERS violated insider trading laws this year when it purchased $26.6 million in restricted stock and then decided it didn’t need to reverse the trades when they were discovered. Two sources with knowledge of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inquiry say on condition of anonymity that it involves stock purchases that the nation’s largest public pension fund made in March, including nearly $24 million in global financial firm JPMorgan Chase & Co….
Authorities will close the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway between Sunset and Wilshire boulevards in West Los Angeles for six hours Sunday morning while crews realign lanes to accommodate roadway widening and drainage work along the median, according to Metro.The full closure will run from midnight to 6 a.m. Sunday, but crews will begin closing freeway ramps in the affected area starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. They will start closing southbound lanes at 11 p.m. Saturday, according to Metro… Full story at centurycity.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/405-freeway-to-close-lanes-sunday-morning-centurycity Read the signs:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Uf4kc2aTk?feature=player_detailpage]
Marilyn Monroe visits UCLA in 1952.
Motorists traveling south on the 405 Freeway through West Los Angeles will be made to take a short detour during an early morning five-hour full directional closure on Friday, Dec. 27. From midnight on Thursday, Dec. 26 to 5 am on Friday, Dec. 27, the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project contractor is scheduled to implement a full directional closure of the southbound 405 Freeway traffic between Santa Monica Boulevard and National Boulevard. The closures will facilitate the realignment of lanes to accommodate roadway widening and drainage work along the freeway median. Lanes will begin to close at 10 pm on…
Christmas day tends to be a slow news day. However, for those who didn’t see it, the LA Times carried a front page story about UC’s online offerings which allow cross-campus credits. You can find the article at: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-me-uc-online-20131222,0,6798231.story Blog readers will be familiar with these offerings. We noted in a prior post that UCLA seems to be a taker rather than a giver in this endeavor. That is, other campuses’ online courses are available to UCLA students. But UCLA is not offering courses to the other campuses. Berkeley, Irvine, Davis, and Riverside seem to be the offerers. Now, how…
Actress Marion Davies (older woman towards the right) attends Christmas parties (1953 – top, 1954 – bottom) at the UCLA Marion Davies Children’s Clinic. [Photos from LAPL] And – for today’s holiday offering – a happy ending for another child:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5mF2TCyS-o?feature=player_detailpage]
Above is a sketch of 29 Palms by famed LA architect Richard Neutra, Christmas 1938, held by special collections in the UCLA library. And below as a tale of the season, told on Dec. 24, 1974:
We have been posting about a potential state ballot initiative allowing California government employers (including UC), to change pension benefit formulas of current employees going forward. We have noted that inclusion of UC is not a Good Thing. Please see prior posts for info. A news item that appeared yesterday about a similar measure that was enacted in San Jose indicates that the city measure seems to have been voided in part by a court decision. Readers will know that Mayor Reed of San Jose has been the front man for the state initiative. What is odd about the article…
