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…
Driving into Westwood in the early 1940s.
Art can be found in various locations around UCLA. The item above is in the Anderson complex. See description below.
Factoid: When UCLA first moved to Westwood in 1929 (dedication ceremony above), the state’s population was far less likely than today to have been born in California. (See below.) The contrast of today with the situation just after World War II was even more dramatic on that score. Thus, although we think of today’s California population as “diverse,” in terms of state nativity, it is less diverse than in the past.
Van burned by animal rights terrorists, June 2008 From the Daily Bruin website: An animal rights activist group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the University of California Board of Regents demanding that UCLA release documents regarding its use of animals in research. Stop Animal Exploitation Now, the organization that filed the lawsuit, claimed the organization does not know whether UCLA is violating any laws regarding animal use in research. The lawsuit seeks to obtain information that would enable the organization to learn whether any violations have occurred, the organization said… Stop Animal Exploitation Now said it submitted a request for…
The Daily Bruin is carrying a story on its website detailing how the $5 million for undocumented students allocated by President Napolitano is to be spent: [excerpt] …UCLA will receive $848,000 of the total $5 million for undocumented student services and financial aid, the most out of any UC campus, according to the letter. UCLA currently enrolls more than 450 undocumented students, a 65 percent increase from last year. There are about 900 undocumented students in the UC system. Of the amount allocated to UCLA, $250,000 will provide services for undocumented students and $598,000 will go toward undocumented student financial…
Readers of this blog will know that an initiative has been filed – which appears to have some serious money behind it for a campaign – that would cover UC’s pension and retiree health care programs. In principle, it would be up to the Regents to make any plan revisions the initiative would allow. However, they would be compelled to produce an analysis of what such revisions would be and it might be politically difficult to resist implementing such plans, particularly if other state and local entities are doing it. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has now prepared its analysis…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLdhVpLBVE?feature=player_embedded]
