UCLA History: Lancaster
Actor Burt Lancaster spoke at an anti-war rally at UCLA in 1968.
UCLA
It’ll Be a Long Time Before Any of These Ideas Come to Pass
Sepulveda Pass Tunnel: 1935 An earlier post (Dec. 27) on this blog noted that the MTA has various long-range plans for dealing with the traffic bottleneck through the Sepulveda Pass, just north and slightly west of UCLA. Readers will not have to be reminded of the fact that the current project of widening the 405 and replacing bridges has been the source of major traffic headaches. The LA Daily News carries an updated story about the MTA’s plans which range from modest to a very expensive tunnel which would carry both rail and cars. You can read about these plans…
audio | miscellaneous | UCLA
The Local Equivalent of Dropping the Ball in Times Square on New Years
LAObserved and KCRW seem to have discovered the Westwood equivalent of watching the ball descend in Times Square at midnight, New Years. The smoking deaths sign resets to zero, apparently attracting a crowd. Of course, if you are reading about this ritual today, you will have to wait until next year to partake. But you don’t have to go far from UCLA to be a participant. The LAObserved article is at:http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/12/new_years_eve_at_the_smok.php The KCRW program can be heard at:
Some Closing Thoughts for 2012
U of Chicago Economics Professor Steven Levitt, co-author of the Freakonomics books, radio programs, blog, etc., made some interesting comments about business and MBA education in the context of a larger discussion of confirmation bias. Basically, he says that willingness to admit ignorance and non-expertise is not part of the business culture and that MBAs learn confidently to provide answers to questions for which they don’t know the answers. Admitting you don’t know is unacceptable. You can hear his comments at the link below. One suspects that the problem is not just one of business but of management of all…
Who did in the deli?
As a recent post noted, one of the few deli options near UCLA – Junior’s on Westwood Blvd. near Pico – as about to close. The original story indicated that the closure was due to a rent hike. But apparently the landlord doesn’t want to be the villain and says the true culprits are the owners of Junior’s who inherited the business and are not operating it effectively. In any event, no one is saying it isn’t closing. All we can do is look on with a rye sense of humor. Updated story is at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/landlord-blames-owners-for-impending-closure-of-junior-s-deli?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001
High at UCLA in 1963
In an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air” program with Terry Gross, Dr. Oliver Sacks notes that he started experimenting with drugs that can induce hallucinations while doing his residency at UCLA: …GROSS: What was the first time you tried a drug that induced perceptual distortions? SACKS: I think it was in 1963, and I was in Los Angeles, at UCLA, doing a residency in neurology, but I was also much on the beach, on Venice Beach and Muscle Beach. And there, there was quite a drug culture, as there was also in Topanga Canyon, where I lived. And one day,…
UCLA History: Old Tunnel (and maybe a new tunnel in the future?)
Above is a phote of the opening in 1930 of the Sepulveda tunnel north of UCLA. A story in the LA Daily News describes grand plans, nowhere near fruition, for such options as a new tunnel under the pass, a rapid busway, or a rail system. Of course, while construction on such options occurred, there would be gridlock of the type we currently have with the 405 widening. The story can be found at:http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22265223/tunnel-beneath-sepulveda-pass-or-widen-405-freeway
No Deli
There are not a lot of deli options near UCLA. If you go down Westwood Blvd., however, toward Pico, you come to Junior’s. According to the LA Times, however, Junior’s is going to close by the end of the year – which doesn’t give it much time to do so. According to the LA Times‘ story, the rent was upped and business is down, resulting in the closure. Junior’s Deli, a 53-year-old Westside staple, will close at the end of the year, narrowing the ranks of Jewish delis in Southern California. Employees, some of them multi-decade veterans of the business,…
UCLA Undergrad Philanthropy Course
The LA Times today carries a story about a fall quarter undergraduate philanthropy course in which $100,000 was distributed to various local charitable groups by students who research such groups. The course was taught by Dean Judi Smith. Back in May, the Daily Bruin carried a story about the course which was then being announced. You can find the original story at: http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2012/05/new_ucla_course_offers_third_and_fourthyears_chance_to_donate_100000_to_local_nonprofits The LA Times’ story about the outcome of the course is at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla-philanthropy-20121224,0,5878820.story UCLA put out two media releases about the course outcome earlier this month but apparently the LA Times reserved it as a…
health care | UC-Davis | UCLA
Good News Story About the Med Center at UCLA; Not So Good at UC-Davis
The web brings Good News about the UCLA med center in the form of a new transplant procedure: http://www.smmirror.com/articles/Health/UCLA-Performs-First-Breathing-Lung-Transplant-In-United-States/36374 On the other hand, our friends at UC-Davis are getting anything but good news from the feds in a story that might make some folks there nostalgic for the days when all they had to worry about was pepper spraying: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/23/5072625/evaluation-of-uc-davis-medical.html