UCLA

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405 Freeway Closure Coming at the End of This Week

Byuclafaculty

Readers of this blog – or of newspapers – or of just about anything will know that the 405 freeway will be closed this coming weekend for construction, something billed as Carmageddon. However, for those who feel they must have some kind of presence on campus, even if vicarious, it might be noted that there are various webcams running 24/7 at UCLA, three of which were working as of today: Royce Hall: http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/bruincam/default.htm Construction in DeNeve area: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/videos/DeNeve-1-Live.htm Construction in Sproul area: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/videos/Sproul-West-1-Live.htm Despite the webcam options, not everyone is happy about the closure:

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Westwood hotel project will go condo if UCLA builds hotel/conference center

Byuclafaculty

The LA Business Journal reports that the developer of the hotel proposed for the old Hollywood video store site on Wilshire & Gayley will do the building as condos-only if UCLA goes ahead with the plan to replace the Faculty Center with a large hotel/conference center. See below. Scroll down to boldface type. No Vacancy? Jacquelyn Ryan Los Angeles Business Journal July 4th, 2011 It seems the biggest battles these days in Westwood aren’t on the basketball court but over luxury suites – and not the ones in arenas. Just months after a controversial plan to build an upscale hotel…

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Money to Burn?

Byuclafaculty

UCLA hospitals to pay $865,500 for breaches of celebrities’ privacy By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times July 8, 2011 UCLA Health System has agreed to pay $865,500 as part of a settlement with federal regulators announced Thursday after two celebrity patients alleged that hospital employees broke the law and reviewed their medical records without authorization. Federal and hospital officials declined to identify the celebrities involved. The complaints cover 2005 to 2009, a time during which hospital employees were repeatedly caught and fired for peeping at the medical records of dozens of celebrities, including Britney Spears, Farrah Fawcett and then-California First…

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UCLA Says No Thanks to Running MLK Hospital Despite Regents Involvement

Byuclafaculty

Although the Regents took on the revival of the Martin Luther King Hospital that was shut down by LA County after numerous problems, UCLA has declined to operate the revamped facility when it reopens. From a report to the Regents July session: Martin Luther King Hospital Update: … A contract for design/build was executed with Hensel Phelps on April 14, 2011. The construction is on schedule with the 120-bed hospital to be “substantially completed” by March 15, 2013, with occupancy by September 15, 2013. Operation of the facility: A “request for solutions” was issued to 12 pre-qualified organizations. The Board…

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Regents to Approve UCLA Apartment Project at July Meeting

Byuclafaculty

The next Regents meeting is scheduled for July 12-14. Slated for approval are replacement and enlargement of two UCLA apartment houses in Westwood: 625/641 Landfair Avenue and 558/564 Glenrock Avenue in a $57.5 million project. Although on the July agenda, the project description indicates that construction will begin in July. Photos of those addresses from Google streetview can be seen here. The agenda item can be seen at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul11/gb2.pdf

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More on the Poizner-UCLA Extension Online Partnership

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted the partnership between Encore Career Institute, headed by former gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, and UCLA Extension. Below is more info taken from the website of Encore: http://encoreci.com/ ========================= About Encore Career Institute A unique combination of passionate leaders and experts have come to together to merge Silicon Valley’s best-in-class technology, Hollywood’s marketing assets and the world renowned academic curriculum of UCLA. The result is a brand new concept and company called the Encore Career Institute. Backed by $15 million in Series A venture capital funds, Encore is poised to revolutionize the higher-education world,…

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29-Story Wilshire-Gayley Hotel

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly received a phone call yesterday from a reporter about a 29-story hotel project on the site of the old Hollywood video store, long closed, on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Gayley (adjacent to the UCLA parking lot). This project has been in the works for some time. For example, you can read a description of it in a 2009 filing with the City of LA at http://cityplanning.lacity.org/eir/WilshireGayleyProject/DEIR/issues/I._Executive_Summary.pdf At that time, i.e., in 2009, the developer was describing it as either a mixed condo/hotel project or just a condo project. A more recent news article, however, terms it…

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Where Are They Going?

Byuclafaculty

UC fears talent loss to deeper pockets Larry Gordon, LA Times, 6/29/11 UC San Diego faced a losing battle recently when it tried to hang on to three star scientists being wooed by Rice University for cutting-edge cancer research. The recruiting package from the private Houston university included 40% pay raises, new labs and a healthy flow of research money from a Texas state bond fund. Another factor, unrelated to Rice, helped close the deal: The professors’ sense that declining state funding for the University of California makes it a good time to pack their bags. “What’s happening now is…