UCLA

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50th Anniversary

Martin Luther King at UCLA, April 27, 1965 Last Martin Luther King Day, I posted a personal remembrance of the March on Washington at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/01/missing-king.html. There was a Facebook audio link to New York City radio commentator Jean Shepherd’s report on the March, broadcast a day after the event, in that posting.  Here, for the 50th anniversary today of the March, is the same broadcast in three segments (total duration around 40 minutes) in easier-to-access YouTube links: Part 1: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeeDIbqkU0A?feature=player_detailpage] Part 2: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6x0pbjNio?feature=player_detailpage] Part 3: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1irKDIzXgGw?feature=player_detailpage]

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Charges in UCLA Chem Lab Accident Case

A judge today denied a motion to dismiss criminal charges against a UCLA chemistry professor stemming from a laboratory fire that killed a 23-year-old research assistant. Professor Patrick Harran, 44, is charged with three counts of willful violation of an occupational safety and health standard causing the death of Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji. Prosecutors say he was responsible for training Sangji and making sure that she wore protective gear. Defense attorneys argued that their client could not be held criminally liable because he wasn’t Sangji’s employer… Judge George G. Lomeli disagreed… Full Story at http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-charges-in-death-of-ucla-lab-assistant  As has been noted in the…

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Alternative Rankings

The Washington Monthly publishes a “social” ranking of universities on the basis of affordability, access by lower-income students, “service” to the society, as well as research.  UC comes in very well in that ranking with UC-San Diego on top and Riverside is second.  Berkeley is fifth and UCLA is tenth.  The introductory article to the ranking concludes with the following statement: …State lawmakers, meanwhile, must be told that the free ride of college budget cutting is over. The U.S. Department of Education should establish new standards of state support for higher learning, and set deadlines for states that don’t meet them….

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Night Owl Alert

For those night owls who work late at UCLA or are in the area, yet another 405 alert: A portion of the northbound 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass will be closed Saturday night for work on the Mulholland Bridge, authorities said. Beginning at 11 p.m., all northbound lanes will close from Getty Center Drive to Greenleaf Street/Ventura Boulevard. The connector ramp from the 101 Freeway to the northbound 405 will also close as will three lanes of the southbound 405 to provide a work buffer. All lanes of the roadway are expected to reopen at 9 a.m. Sunday… Full…

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A little bit of action on the UCLA Grand Hotel

I took my weekly perambulation to the “work” site of the Grand Hotel on campus this past Wednesday morning, about 9:30 am.  As noted in prior posts, although the area was fenced off July 8, the “groundbreaking” is not scheduled until Sept. 10.  So not much seems to be happening other than some digging up of landscaping. Anyway, I did see a few construction vehicles on the site. (If you click on the two bottom photos and look closely, you might be able to make a couple of the vehicles out.) The only person I saw in the site wasn’t…

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UCLA History: Cord

During the summer doldrums, we continue to provide scans of pictures from UCLA’s history as shown in the book, “California of the Southland,” published by the alumni in 1937.  You can pick what you like as interesting from the 1936 picture above.  There is the presence of Gov. Frank Merriam who had been Lieutenant Governor and then became governor on the death of the sitting governor.  Merriam was elected in his own right, defeating author Upton Sinclair in 1934 in the great EPIC campaign.  If you don’t know about that, you should.  So start by Googling it. Another item of…

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Directional Issues

Good advice from Horace because of you’re traveling east on Wilshire and want to go north on the 405, you are soon to have problem.  And others will likely have a problem as those who want to go north shift to the Sunset Blvd. on ramp – or just get confused. See below:The eastbound Wilshire Boulevard on-ramp to northbound 405 Freeway will close for 90 days starting Thursday, Aug 22. Once rebuilt, the on-ramp will have nearly 300 percent greater capacity. It is the last extended ramp closure that will be required for the Wilshire Interchange, as well as the…