UCLA

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How to Turn $70 Million into $63 Million in 7 Years: Build a 210-Room Hotel Adjacent to Campus

Byuclafaculty

A straw in the wind about the Estancia Hotel in La Jolla next to UC-San Diego: The seven-year-old, 210-room Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa, located adjacent to UC San Diego, has been put up for sale. The owner, Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises, is not saying why it’s marketing the property nor did it divulge an asking price, but an online real estate publication estimates the luxury property could fetch more than $60 million. The hotel and conference center, which sits on a nine-acre site known at one time as the Black Family La Jolla Stables, was developed at a…

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Who Owns It?

Byuclafaculty

As the 1951 fundraising letter above indicates, the UCLA Faculty Center began with contributions from various sources. (Click on the image for a clearer look.) The Regents apparently contributed less than half, perhaps a third, of the original funding. However, documents available do not make it clear who owns the building (as opposed to the land under it which clearly is university property). What is known is that over the years, there were discussions of a formal contract (Memorandum of Understanding – MOU) between UCLA and the Board of the Faculty Center. Below you can find a draft of an…

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UCLA History: Jackie Robinson

Byuclafaculty

Jackie Robinson at UCLA in 1941. “At UCLA, Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track. In 1941, he was named to the All-American football team. Due to financial difficulties, he was forced to leave college, and eventually decided to enlist in the U.S. Army.” Source: http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html

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Live West of the 405? Don’t bother to come to UCLA

Byuclafaculty

From LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky: Sometime this fall, two Wilshire on- and off-ramps to the 405 Freeway will be closed for 90 days. That work will be followed by a series of closures of the other Wilshire ramps, each expected to last from 14 to 90 days. (There are eight ramps in all, and they will be worked on two at a time.) The end result should be sweet: modern, swooping flyover ramps that will make it easier to navigate the notoriously jammed intersection. But getting to that point may be considerably less so, in the view of residents…

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How to Have a Major Conference Without a Campus Hotel

Byuclafaculty

As a follow up, readers of this blog will recall an earlier entry about the 2-day Governor’s Conference on Local Renewable Energy Resources which was held at UCLA recently without the need for a new hotel/conference center. If you don’t recall it, check out http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/07/rooms-at-inns.html The first day of the governor’s conference was held at Covel and the second at the Faculty Center, the very Faculty Center that was slated to be demolished for the hotel/conference center. For a more complete photo montage, below is a full collection of pictures of the event. Click on the arrow to start the…

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UCLA’s Contribution to the Art of the Cinema

Byuclafaculty

UCLA’s campus is often used for scenes in movies, TV shows, and commercials. Only one movie centers on UCLA and it has to be one of the worst movies ever made. But for your summer enjoyment, this blog makes it available. Much of it was filmed at UCLA with some scenes at LA City Hall, Westside Pavilion, the Natural History Museum and vicinity, and other parts of LA. Big Man on Campus (1989) In this version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, a hunchback is found living in the bell tower of UCLA. He is put on trial and made…

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Auditor Looks In: Now that the audit is out, a money-losing hotel would not be advisable

Byuclafaculty

Undoubtedly, the headline on the audit report for UC released today will be the generalized call for more “transparency.” The report produced a nasty back and forth between UCOP and the State Auditor as to whether what the report found was significant or not with UCOP effectively suggesting that the audit was a waste of money. The audit was the product of a request by state senator Leland Yee – now running for mayor of San Francisco – who has made something of a career out of criticizing the university. That being said, there is material in the report about…

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Rooms at the Inns

Byuclafaculty

UCLA (Covel on the first day) is the site of a conference sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown on “Local Renewable Energy Resources.” You can find the agenda for the event at: http://gov.ca.gov/s_energyconference.php Now here is an interesting side note to the conference. Apparently, the participants and guests can be accommodated without a big hassle (and without a new on-campus hotel). If you click on the website above, you will find the statement: Hotel information: The nearby Luxe Hotel is providing rooms at a group rate. Call (800) 468-3541 and provide the group code UCLAGOV to book a room. Below that,…