miscellaneous

The Daily Bruin last week ran a history of a small nuclear reactor that operated at UCLA from 1959 to 1984. The caption to the photo above read “Thomas E. Hicks (right), engineering professor and then-chief supervisor of the UCLA reactor, and Ronald MacLain, his chief assistant, stand on top of the newly built reactor in December 1960. The nuclear reactor, which had the power of 100 toasters, was small and used mostly for research purposes.” Full story at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/03/small_ucla_reactor_used_by_students_shut_down_in_1984_because_of_potential_safety_hazards_declining_

This 1955 photo depicts the first patient to have an operation at the UCLA hospital.

If you have been tracking some of the old photos of UCLA on this blog – or just know some UCLA history – you know that UCLA began by taking over the campus of the State Normal School on Vermont Avenue before the move to Westwood. But the State Normal School itself had an earlier history. It was first located on the site of what is now the Central Library of LA City. This photo shows that downtown campus circa 1900. The photo, related photos, and information on this earlier history can be found at http://blogdowntown.com/2011/03/6199-why-doesnt-hope-go-through-las-state-normal

UCLA was into Green Gremlins in 1972; this one an AMC Gremlin converted to burn hydrogen. Maybe the folks above should have waited for the 1973 models, right Tex?[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4oB3tyQxCc]

From the LA Daily News, 3/18/11 (excerpt): A UCLA student whose anti-Asian rant on YouTube made national headlines announced today that she plans to leave the university. In an apology letter sent to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper, Alexandra Wallace wrote that the video has led to “the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats and being ostracized from an entire community.” … Wallace sent the letter on the same day the university announced it would not be taking any disciplinary action against her. In her letter to the Daily Bruin, Wallace said she…

UCLA students to leave Japan as Bruins join relief effort (excerpt) Mar 17, 2011, Alison Hewitt, UCLA Today As the threat of radiation exposure grows in Japan following the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami that severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, UC decided to suspend its study-abroad programs in the country and is in the process of evacuating students, including nine UCLA students from Tokyo. Meanwhile, several UCLA professors and some campus groups are joining relief efforts, including a pediatrician who is part of a medical team trying to reach the devastated areas, a geographic information systems (GIS) expert…

The Sacramento Bee reports that the video described in an earlier post was to be part of a larger enterprise: The UCLA student whose anti-Asian video rant garnered millions of views online and intense backlash throughout the world is from Fair Oaks and appears to have had aspirations of creating similar videos as part of a blog. Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan on Friday, Alexandra Wallace, 20, posted a three-minute video on YouTube in which she mocked Asian languages and expressed her annoyance with Asian students talking loudly in the library on their cell phones, including those…

Most blog readers will be aware of this incident from the chancellor’s recent email. Here are some excerpts from the Daily Bruin: UCLA student’s YouTube video ‘Asians in the Library’ prompts death threats; violent responses criticized as equally damaging Kate Parkinson-MorganMarch 14, 2011, Daily Bruin, online version A UCLA student has received multiple death threats in response to her video “Asians in the Library,” which was posted Friday. In the video, third-year political science student Alexandra Wallace makes a number of disparaging comments about Asian students… The video quickly went viral and, despite being removed by Wallace on Sunday, has…