UCLA

|

In case you missed it…

Byuclafaculty

An interesting story appeared in yesterday’s LA Times by columnist Sandy Banks about UCLA adjunct law professor Anthony Tolbert who turned his house over to needy strangers and moved in with his mother to make room. When Tony Tolbert turned 50 last year, he marked the occasion by moving in with his mother.  The decision wasn’t about money. He’s a Harvard-educated attorney, on the staff of UCLA’s law school. And it wasn’t because his mother wanted or needed him home. It was Tolbert’s response to the sort of midlife milestone that prompts us to take stock. Instead of buying a…

|

UCLA History: Winter 1932

Byuclafaculty

Now that we have survived a supposed Mayan prediction of the end of the world and are in the first full day of winter, here is a snow scene of Powell in 1932. If you are curious about why we survived, NASA has some answers:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY_Gc1bF8ds?feature=player_embedded] And, by the way, as far as I can tell, the correct pronunciation of WINTER is WINTR:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwgEY2JJXV8?feature=player_detailpage]

| | |

The Money That Danced Away

Byuclafaculty

USC recently announced a gift from philanthropist Glorya Kaufman to establish a new school of dance.  In a radio interview on KCRW, Kaufman said she had given money for renovation of a dance building at UCLA but the building wasn’t being used as intended.  Excerpt: …Glorya Kaufman, the philanthropist funding USC’s new dance school, won’t reveal exactly how much money she’s putting into it. “That’s not the important part. The important part is what it’s doing … that’s why I’m withholding that amount,” she says. But whatever the pricetag, it’s large enough to pay for a brand new building and at least…

| | | |

Lessons from NYU for Murphy Hall, UCOP, and the Regents to Ponder

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has an interesting and lengthy article on a pending NYU faculty vote of no-confidence in that university’s president which relates to a construction project of the university.  We have reported in this blog about the large capital project agenda that is routinely approved by the Board of Regents for UC campuses without real independent oversight capability on the part of the Board.  Perhaps there are lessons from NYU to be learned.  The recent extended brouhaha about the UC logo – clearly a minor issue compared to the NYU matter – suggests that folks in Murphy Hall,…

| |

The Westwood Barnes Dance

Byuclafaculty

Henry Barnes As you enter UCLA from the south on Westwood Boulevard, you come across this pedestrian crossing in which all traffic lights turn red for cars and pedestrians can walk diagonally as well as straight across the street.  (There is another such crossing a few blocks away also in Westwood.)  The system is called a “Barnes Dance” after the traffic engineer who pushed for its use, Henry Barnes.  Yours truly can remember when the Barnes Dance was introduced in New York City in the 1950s (where apparently now there is only one such intersection left).  In any event, a…

| |

The Really Exciting 405 Project (More or Less)

Byuclafaculty

The Westwood-Century City Patch brings us this news of the I-405 project near UCLA: The investigations that resulted in the denial of 71 percent of damage claims related to the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project have been handled with careful attention to documentation and responsibility, according to a spokesman for Kiewit Construction, the main contractor for the $1 billion project.  Last week, the Metro Board of Directors approved Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s motion calling for the inspector general’s office to audit Kiewit’s claims since the project began in 2009. Dan Kulka, community relations manager for Kiewit, said 90…

|

Nobody Noticed the Pledge and Maybe That’s a Good Thing

Byuclafaculty

It looks like none of the LA City mayoral candidates decided to take the environmental pledge that a UCLA report seemed to suggest they should.  We previously posted about the pledge at: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/12/mayoral-campaign-pledges.html and http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/12/more-on-ucla-studys-request-for-mayoral.html Our posts noted that the seeming posture of UCLA pushing for political candidates to take particular positions and actions (in this case, creation of a new city agency was among the actions) goes beyond just posing the options that candidates might consider.  Although yours truly did not see the event, in an article describing a recent TV debate among the mayoral candidates appearing in the…