University of California, Los Angeles

 

Coordinates: 34°04′20.00″N, 118°26′38.75″W

University of California, Los Angeles
Motto	Fiat lux (Let there be light)
Established	1881 as the Los Angeles State Normal School. Became part of UC system in 1919
Type	Public
Academic term	Quarter
Endowment	US $1.9 billion (June 30, 2006)[1]
Chancellor	Gene Block [3]
Provost	Scott L. Waugh (acting)[4]
Faculty	4,016[2]
Staff	26,139
Undergraduates	25,432
Postgraduates	11,179[5]
Location	Los Angeles, California,
Campus	Urban, 419 acres (1.7 km²)
Newspaper	Daily Bruin
Colors	True Blue and Gold
Nickname	UCLA
Mascot	Joe and Josephine Bruin[6]
Athletics	Bruins, NCAA Division I
Affiliations	AAU Pac 10
Nobel laureates	10
Website	www.ucla.edu

The University of California, Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established as a branch of the state university in 1919, it is the second-oldest general-purpose campus in the University of California system and has the largest enrollment of any university in the state. ^[7]

UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising.^[8][5]

UCLA is ranked 25th among "National Universities" by U.S. News and World Report. UCLA placed 13th in the world in 2007, as per the Top 500 World Universities.^[9] It ranked 11th in the nation in terms of quality of scientific research leading towards a Nobel Prize.^[9] UCLA is a Public Ivy [1]. UCLA is also one of the 25 New Ivies, a list of elite universities ranked by Kaplan^[10]

UCLA has more applicants than any other university in the United States.^[11][12][13] Out of 50,732 applicants for Fall 2007, 11,860 (23.38%) were admitted.^[14] Students come to UCLA from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, though according to statistics from 2001-05, an average 92.6% of the entire student body originated from California.^[8][5]

UCLA's athletic teams, the Bruins, have won 121 national championships, including 100 NCAA team championships as of 2007—more than any other university in the world.^[15]

In 2006, the university completed Campaign UCLA, which collected over $3.05 billion and is currently the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of higher education.^[16]

History

Main article: History of the University of California, Los Angeles

Background

In March 1881, after heavy lobbying by Los Angeles residents, the California State Legislature authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State Normal School in downtown Los Angeles to train teachers for the growing population of Southern California. The State Normal School at Los Angeles opened on August 29, 1882, on what is now the site of the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library system. The new facility included an elementary school where teachers-in-training could practice their teaching technique on real children. In 1887, the school became known as the Los Angeles State Normal School.^[17]

1910s

In 1914, the school moved to a new campus on Vermont Avenue in Hollywood. In 1917, UC Regent Edward A. Dickson, the only regent representing the Southland at the time, and Ernest Carroll Moore, Director of the Normal School, began working together to lobby the State for the school to become the second University of California campus, after Berkeley. On May 23, 1919, their efforts were rewarded when Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, which turned the school into the Southern Branch of the University of California and added its general undergraduate program, the College of Letters and Science.^[18] The Southern Branch campus opened on September 15 of that year, offering two-year undergraduate programs to 250 Letters and Science students and 1,250 students in the Teachers College, under Moore's continued direction.

1920s

In 1925, the College of Letters and Science awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degrees to 100 women and 24 men. Enrollment at the Southern Branch expanded so rapidly that by the mid-1920s the institution was outgrowing the 25 acre Vermont Avenue location. The Regents conducted a search for a new location and announced their selection of the so-called "Beverly Site"—just west of Beverly Hills—on March 21, 1925. (The original Vermont campus is now home to Los Angeles City College.) After the athletic teams entered the Pacific Coast conference in 1926, the Southern Branch student council adopted the nickname "Bruins," a name offered by the student council at Berkeley.^[19] In 1927, the Regents renamed the school itself the "University of California at Los Angeles" (the word "at" was officially replaced by a comma in 1958, in line with other UC campuses) and the state broke ground in Westwood on land sold for $1 million, less than one-third its value, by real estate developers Edwin and Harold Janss, for whom the Janss Steps are named.^[17]

The original four buildings were the College Library, Royce Hall, the Physics-Biology Building, and the Chemistry Building (presently Powell Library, Royce Hall, the Humanities Building, and Haines Hall, respectively), arrayed around a quadrangular courtyard on the 400 acre (1.6 km²) campus. The first undergraduate classes on the new campus were held in 1929 with 5,500 students. In 1933, after further lobbying by alumni, faculty, administration and community leaders, UCLA was permitted to award the Master's degree, and in 1936, the doctorate, against resistance from Berkeley.^[20]

1930s

The UCLA student body in those years quickly gained a radical reputation. In 1934, Provost Ernest Moore declared UCLA "the worst hotbed of communism in the U.S," and suspended five members of the ASUCLA student government for allegedly “using their offices to assist the revolutionary activities of the National Student League, a Communist organization which has bedeviled the University for some months.” Over 3,000 students gathered to protest in Royce Quad, and campus police officers, attempting to silence the speakers, were thrown into some bushes. The crowd dispersed before any arrests were made, and University President Robert Sproul later reinstated the students.^[21]

In 1934, upon the death of William Andrews Clark, Jr., UCLA received its first major bequest—still one of the most generous in its history—the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. The rare books and manuscripts collection includes some of the world's largest collections of English literature, history, and fine printing.^[22]

ARPANET & Internet (1969-1988)

ARPANET, the world's first electronic computer network, was established on October 29, 1969 between nodes at professor of computer science, Leonard Kleinrock's, lab at UCLA and Douglas Engelbart's lab at Stanford Research Institute, in Menlo Park, CA.^[23] In 1988, Kleinrock also chaired a group which produced the report Toward a National Research Network.^[24] This report was presented to Congress and was so influential on then-Senator Al Gore that it proved to be the foundation for what would be passed as the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991, written and developed by Gore.^[25]

The fall quarter of 2006 was a tumultuous time for the school. Between October 2005 and November 2006, an experienced hacker broke into a university database containing approximately 800,000 files of personal information, but very little sensitive data were obtained.^[26]

Campus

When UCLA opened its new campus in 1929, it had four buildings. Today, the campus includes 163 buildings across 419 acres (1.7 km²) in the western part of Los Angeles, north of the Westwood shopping district and just south of Sunset Boulevard. The campus is close but not adjacent to the San Diego Freeway.^[27]

The first campus buildings were designed by the local firm Allison & Allison. The Romanesque Revival style of these first four structures remained the predominant building style on campus until the 1950s, when architect Welton Becket was hired to supervise the expansion of the campus over the next two decades. Becket greatly streamlined the general appearance of the campus, adding several rows of minimalist, slab–shaped brick buildings to the southern half of the campus, the largest of these being the UCLA Medical Center.^[28] Architects such as A. Quincy Jones, William Pereira and Paul Williams designed many subsequent structures on the campus during the mid-20th century. More recent additions include buildings designed by architects I.M. Pei, Richard Meier, Cesar Pelli, and Rafael Vinoly. In order to accommodate UCLA's rapidly growing student population, multiple construction and renovation projects are in progress, including expansions of the life sciences and engineering research complexes. This continuous construction gives UCLA the on-campus nickname of "Under Construction Like Always."^[29]

The campus includes sculpture gardens, fountains, museums, and a mix of architectural styles. It is located in the residential area of Westwood and bordered by Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood. The campus is informally divided into North Campus and South Campus, which are both on the eastern half of the university's land. North Campus is the original campus core, with its buildings being more old-fashioned in appearance and clad in imported Italian brick. North Campus is home to the arts, humanities, social sciences, law, and business programs and is centered around oak tree-lined Dickson Court. South Campus is home to the physical sciences, life sciences, engineering, psychology, mathematical sciences, all health-related fields, and the UCLA Medical Center.

Ackerman Union, the John Wooden Center, the Arthur Ashe Health and Wellness Center, the Student Activities Center, Kerckhoff Hall, the J.D. Morgan Center, the James West Alumni Center, and Pauley Pavilion stand at the center of the campus. Bruin Walk, a heavily traveled pathway from housing to the main campus, bisects the campus.

The tallest building on campus is named after Ralph Bunche, an African-American alumnus, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an armistice agreement between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine. A bust of him, on the entrance to Bunche Hall, overlooks the Sculpture Garden. He was the first individual of non-European background and the first UCLA alumnus to be honored with the Prize.

The campus has a large number of parking garages, both above-ground and below-ground. Yet, the university continues to suffer from a severe parking shortage which is further compounded by Southern California's regional housing shortage.^[30] The university has given priority in allocation of parking spaces to staff and some students, regardless of living distances. There are many facilities with local buses. There are, in addition, other transportation services that the university provides for its students, such as "rideshares" and vanpools. Also, the "BruinGo" program allows students and staff members to use local bus services (such as Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, initially used as a free initiative) for a reduced fare from numerous terminals located on the campus.^[31]

With a location near Hollywood and a world-famous film and television school, the UCLA campus has attracted filming for decades. Much of the 1985 film Gotcha! was shot at UCLA, as well as John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995). Legally Blonde, Erin Brockovich, and American Pie 2 all were mainly shot at the university campus or locale. In response to the major demand for filming, UCLA instated a policy on filming and professional photography at the campus.^[32] "UCLA is located in Los Angeles, the same place as the American motion picture industry," said UCLA visiting professor of film and television Jonathan Kuntz.^[33] "So we're convenient for (almost) all of the movie companies, TV production companies, commercial companies and so on. We're right where the action is."

Academics

UCLA features the College of Letters and Science, seven general campus professional schools, and four professional schools for the health sciences. Collectively, these schools serve about 25,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students.^[5]

Created in 1923, the UCLA College of Letters and Science has 34 academic departments and 900 faculty, and houses the majority of UCLA's 129 undergraduate majors as well as the students in the Graduate Division of Letters and Sciences. The prestigious UCLA College Honors Program is also housed in the College. The College of Letters and Science's programs are divided into five academic divisions: humanities, social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and the International Institute.^[5]

Students at both levels are enrolled in the School of the Arts and Architecture, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Theater, Film, and Television, while the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, the Anderson School of Management, the School of Public Affairs, and the School of Law serve graduate students.

The David Geffen School of Medicine, along with the School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, and School of Public Health, comprise the professional schools of health science. In 2005, UCLA announced its five-year plan to establish the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine; the state of California is rare in its public funding of research with new embryonic stem cell lines. The California NanoSystems Institute is another project that was created out of a partnership with the University of California, Santa Barbara to pioneer innovations in the field of nanotechnology.^[29][34]

Rankings

UCLA is ranked 25th among "National Universities" by U.S. News and World Report. In the August 21–28, 2006 issue of Newsweek (also released as the 2007 issue of the Kaplan Guide to Colleges), UCLA was listed as one of "25 New Ivies".^[35] UCLA was 12th in Newsweek's annual ranking of the Top 100 Global universities.^[36] The Washington Monthly ranks UCLA 2nd nationally with criteria based on research, community service, and social mobility.^[37]

In 2007, UCLA was ranked 11th in North America and 13th in the world by the annual list, Top 500 World Universities, published by the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in terms of quality of scientific research leading to a Nobel Prize.^[9] UCLA was ranked 16th in the country and 31st in the world by The Times Higher Education Supplement’s list of the top 200 universities in the world.^[38]

UCLA took the second spot among all universities (surpassed only by Johns Hopkins University), and the top spot among public universities, for research spending in the sciences and engineering during the fiscal year 2004, according to a 2006 report by the National Science Foundation—UCLA spent $773 million.^[39]

UCLA's School of Law, Anderson School of Management, School of Public Affairs, and School of Medicine consistently rank among the top ten to twenty in the United States. UCLA's oldest operating unit, the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS), was ranked second among American graduate schools of education in the 2006 edition of U.S. News and World Report, America's Best Graduate Schools.^[40]

In the Institute for Scientific Information's 2004 database, 48 UCLA professors were listed as highly cited, making UCLA faculty 11th in the United States; as of December 2006, there were 54 highly cited faculty.^[41]

In 1995, of the 36 Ph.D. programs examined by the National Research Council, eleven departments were ranked in the top ten.^[42] Thirty-one of the Ph.D. programs examined were ranked in the top 20, the third highest number of those distinctions in the country.

Library system

Main article: University of California, Los Angeles, library system

UCLA's library system has over eight million books and 70,000 serials spread over twelve libraries and eleven other archives, reading rooms, and research centers. It is the nation's 13th largest library in number of volumes.^[43]

The first library, University library (presently Powell), was founded in 1883. In 1910, Elizabeth Fargo became the university's first librarian. Lawrence Powell became librarian in 1944, and began a series of system overhauls and modifications, and in 1959, he was named Dean of the School of Library Service.^[44] More libraries were added as previous ones filled. Page Ackerman became University Librarian in 1973, and was the nation's first female librarian of a system as large as UCLA's. She oversaw the first coordinations between other UC schools, and formed a new administrative network that is still in use today.^[45] Since her retirement, the system has seen steady growth and improvement under various Librarians. The present University Librarian is Gary E. Strong, who has been in office since September 1, 2003.^[46]

Admissions

Undergraduate

UCLA is rated "Most Selective", by the Princeton Review, with an admissions selectivity rating of 98 (on a scale of 60–99).^[47] UCLA received 50,694 applications for the Fall 2007 freshman class, continuing its record of having the most applications for a single class, a title it has held since 1998.^[13] This year, 11,860 applicants were admitted, 23.38% of the total.

One of the major current debates is over the decreasing admission of African-Americans and Latinos, especially since the passage of Proposition 209, prohibiting racial, sexual, or ethnic discrimination at public institutions, in 1996.^[48] Out of the 4,700 students in the Fall 2006 class, 96 are black, and 20 of those are recruited athletes. This is the lowest number of blacks admitted to UCLA in more than 30 years, and it comes at a time when the other schools in the UC system are seeing an increase. In response to this issue, UCLA decided to shift to a more "holistic" admissions process, similar to that of UC Berkeley, starting Fall 2007.^[49] Preliminary data show that the overall number of underrepresented student applicants at UCLA — Native Americans, African Americans and Chicanos/Latinos — increased from 10,097 in fall 2006 (22.2% of 2006 applicants) to 11,414 for fall 2007 (23.6%).^[13]

Graduate

In Fall 2005 the David Geffen School of Medicine admitted 4.5% of its applicants, the School of Law admitted 16.1%, and the Anderson School of Management admitted 30.6%.^[50]

According to the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Guide to Dental Schools, 44th Ed., the UCLA School of Dentistry had more than 1,465 applicants for 88 seats in the entering class of 2006. The average Dental Admissions Test (DAT) scores for admitted students in the entering class of 2007 were 22 on the academic portion and 20 on the perceptual aptitude portion of the exam.

Faculty and alumni

See also: List of University of California, Los Angeles people

UCLA faculty (including emeriti) have a history of achieving academic honors and prestigious awards. Most prominently, 83 professors are members of the honor society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 52 have been awarded Guggenheim Fellows grants since 1992. Six professors have been awarded the Nobel Prize,^[51] and Jared Diamond, a professor of Geography, won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Guns, Germs, and Steel.^[52] Four alumni have also received Nobel Prizes for achievements in science and Peace; notably, Glenn T. Seaborg ('34) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1951 for his discoveries about the transuranium elements.^[53] In 2006, 54 faculty members were listed as "Highly Cited" by the Institute for Scientific Information.^[41]

Notable people

UCLA has had over 350,000 alumni in its century-old history.^[54] Among the graduates of the school have been prominent politicians, actors, athletes, and others that have gained national, and for some, international attention. Some notable alumni include Anthony Kiedis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the late Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Tim Robbins, Ted Stevens, Carol Burnett, Gore Verbinski, John Williams, and Tom Anderson of MySpace fame. The UCLA faculty history is especially distinguished, with members of staff including Arnold Schoenberg, John Wooden, Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin, Michael Dukakis, Bertrand Russell and David Kaplan.

Athletics

Main article: UCLA Bruins

The school's sports teams are called the Bruins, with colors "true blue" (an official shade of blue) and gold. The Bruins participate in NCAA Division I-A as part of the Pacific Ten Conference. Two notable sports facilities serve as home venues for UCLA sports. The Bruin men's football team plays home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; the team won a national title in 1954. The men's and women's basketball and men's and women's volleyball teams, and the gymnastics team (women's) play at Pauley Pavilion on campus. The school also sponsors men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's rowing, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's water polo.

The Bruin mascots are Joe and Josephine Bruin, and the fight songs are Sons of Westwood and Mighty Bruins. The alma mater is Hail to the Hills of Westwood.

When Henry "Red" Sanders came to UCLA to coach football in 1949, the uniforms were redesigned. Sanders added a gold loop on the shoulders—the UCLA Stripe. The navy blue was changed to a lighter shade of blue. Sanders figured that the baby blue would look better on the field and in film. He dubbed the baby blue uniform "Powder Keg Blue".

UCLA is competitive in all major Division I-A sports and, as of 2007, has won 121 national championships, including 100 NCAA championships, more than any other university.^[55] The university recently won the Women's Water Polo championship making it the first to reach 100 NCAA championships.^[55] Among these championships, some of the more notable victories are in men's basketball. Under legendary coach John Wooden, UCLA men's basketball teams won 10 NCAA championships, including a record seven consecutive, in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1975, and an 11th was added under then-coach Jim Harrick in 1995 (thru 2006, the most consecutive by any other team is two).^[55] From 1971 to 1974, UCLA men's basketball won an unprecedented 88 consecutive games. UCLA has also shown dominance in men's volleyball, with 19 national championships. All 19 teams were led by current coach Al Scates, which ties him with John McDonnell of the University of Arkansas as NCAA leader for national championships in a single sport.^[55]

UCLA has medaled in every Olympic Games they have participated in. In the 2004 Athens games, UCLA sent 56 athletes, more than any other university, who won 19 medals.

Former UCLA basketball player and current Seattle Supersonics player Earl Watson commented, "Eleven national championships, the best coach to coach the game says a lot (Wooden). I take offense to those who act like UCLA is just another school compared with Duke. Duke is a great school in the east, but UCLA is worldwide."

USC rivalry

Main article: UCLA-USC rivalry

UCLA shares a traditional sports rivalry with the nearby University of Southern California. USC is generally perceived as the dominant football team, while UCLA tends to succeed in basketball. In football, USC has 11 Division I national champion teams, and 35 Pacific Coast Conference titles. UCLA has one national champion team, and 16 conference titles. Under John Wooden, UCLA became a dominating power in men's basketball, winning 11 NCAA championships, against USC's none.^[56]

The schools share a rivalry in many other sports. In volleyball, UCLA won 19 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships against USC's six.^[55] Both schools have won sixteen NCAA Men's Tennis Championships. The Lexus Gauntlet is the name given to the official competition between the two schools in 18 varsity sports.^[57] This rivalry even extends to the Olympic Games, where UCLA athletes have won 213 medals, and USC athletes have won 234.^[58][59]

The origin is unclear, but the rivalry most likely started when football Hall of Fame coach Red Sanders led UCLA to dominance in the 1950s. USC, long before established as the reigning power, diverted its attention from then-rival University of Notre Dame, and the rivalry began. Games between the two schools have no official name, but the week preceding it is known as "Blue and Gold Week" (formerly "Beat 'SC Week"). During this week, students participate in traditions known throughout the UCLA student body, with activities such as a blood drive aptly titled "Get the Red Out", a beat USC car smash, and a parade ending with a bonfire at the bottom of Janss Steps.

Student life

Students have access to a variety of activities while not attending class. The campus' proximity to Los Angeles makes excursions to local museums, theaters, or other entertainment venues relatively quick and easy. UCLA offers classical orchestras, intramural sports, and over 800 student organizations. The student government at UCLA is the Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA), governed by a student majority board of directors. It is the umbrella organization that includes the two branches of UCLA's student government, the Graduate Students Association (GSA) and the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC), the UCLA Store, the Student Union, Restaurants, Trademark & Licensing, and Student Media (including the UCLA Daily Bruin). The Student Alumni Association (SAA), a branch under the UCLA Alumni Association but entirely student run, is responsible for maintaining and putting on UCLA's oldest and greatest traditions, such as Beat SC' Week, the Homecoming Parade, Spring Sing, and Dinners for 12 Strangers, amongst many.

Housing

Main article: University of California, Los Angeles student housing

UCLA provides over 9,500 undergraduates with housing, in 14 complexes on the western side of campus. Students can live in halls, plazas, or suites, which vary in pricing and privacy. Housing plans also offer students access to dining facilities. The university also provides housing to a limited number of graduate students. UCLA currently offers three years guaranteed housing to its incoming freshman, and one year to incoming transfer students. Current plans including renovating older residential halls and allowing four years of guaranteed housing to freshman admit students by 2010.

Media publications

Most student media publications distributed on-campus are governed by the ASUCLA Communications Board. The Daily Bruin is UCLA's most prominent student publication. Founded in 1919 under the name Cub Californian, it has since then developed into Los Angeles' third-most circulated newspaper. It has won over 20 national awards in the last five years, and is regularly commended for layout and content. In 2006, the Society of Professional Journalists awarded it Best All-Around Daily Newspaper in the national Mark of Excellence Awards.^[60] The newspaper has not been without scrutiny and controversy, and in 1954, the administration attempted to intervene with the previous policy of electing editors by a student council. UCLA Student Media also publishes seven newsmagazines, each established to serve a special-interest community on campus: Al-Talib, Fem, Ha'Am, La Gente de Aztlan, Nommo, Pacific Ties, and Outwrite.

Traditions

The university has many traditions and annual events involving students, community, or the city. The school hosts events that usually require participation from more than just the student body, and competitions can occasionally involve celebrity judges and performers.

The unique 73-year old Unicamp is UCLA's official charity. It is a summer camp for lower-income children of Los Angeles, where counselors (called "Woodseys") are volunteers from the student body. Unicamp helps over 500 junior high and high school students in the Los Angeles community through the help of over 300 UCLA student volunteers over the course of the summer.

To introduce new students to clubs and activities, UCLA starts the fall quarter with BruinBash on the Sunday before the first week of class, followed by other Welcome Week activities. The Bash includes a concert, movie, and entertainment. Past performers include T.I. in 2007 and Thrice, Common, and Xzibit and Rooney in 2006. BruinBash was created as a replacement for Black Sunday, a large-scale day of partying including all fraternities, in North Westwood Village, where the majority of off-campus students reside adjacent to campus.

UCLA students also participate in "Midnight Yell" during finals week, a tradition where every night at midnight (starting on Sunday of finals week), students go outside and yell as loudly as possible for one minute, giving everyone a chance to take a short break from studying and release some nervous energy. Students who live in on-campus housing are not allowed to participate.

The quarterly Undie Run takes place during the Wednesday evening of Finals Week, when students run through the campus in their underwear or in skimpy costumes. The run first began in Fall of 2001 when a student, Eric Whitehead, wearing what he described as "really short shorts" walked around singing a song and playing a guitar to protest the Police restrictions on the Midnight Yell.^[61] With the increasing safety hazards and Police and Administration involvement, a student committee, in order to satisfy concerns but keep the event, changed the route. It was changed to a run through campus to the fountain in front of Powell Library. Now It ends with students cavorting in the fountains outside Powell Library.^[62] As attendance increased, committees in charge of organizing the event deemed it necessary to employ the UC Police during the event, to ward off vandalism and dangerous activity.^[62] In 2007, the route was changed again to begin at Strathmore and Gayley Avenues instead of Landfair and Gayley Avenues. Tired of the UCLA administration meddling with in student-initiated, spontaneous traditions, new finals week celebrations are appearing. One of these is "Undie Ride," where students ride their bicycles in their underwear on Tuesday night of finals week.

The Alumni Association sponsors several events, usually large extravaganzas involving huge amounts of coordination. An example of this is the 60-year old Spring Sing, organized by the Student Alumni Association (SAA). Spring Sing is UCLA's oldest tradition--it is an annual gala of student talent, which is held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on campus. The committee bestows the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award each year to a major contributor to the music industry. Past recipients have included Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor, and in 2007, Quincy Jones.^[63] The Dinner for 12 Strangers, a common tradition among universities, is a gathering of students, alumni, administration and faculty to network around different interests.^[64]

Various student groups organize schoolwide fundraisers such as the Jazz Reggae Festival, a two-day concert on Memorial Day weekend that attracts more than 20,000 attendees. The Dance Marathon is an annual event with hundreds of student dancers committed to raising money and otherwise joining together to support the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Since 2002, the Marathon has raised over $650,000.^[65]

Peripheral enterprises

Trademarks and Licensing

The UCLA trademark also sells as an overseas clothing and accessories brand. This trend arises from the school's athletic and academic reputation, and popular images of the Southern California lifestyle, emphasizing freedom in a land of perpetual sunshine. High demand for UCLA apparel has inspired the licensing of its trademark to UCLA brand stores throughout East Asia. Since 1980, 15 UCLA stores have opened in South Korea, and five in Mainland China. There are also stores in Mexico, Singapore, and Europe.^[66] Cindy Holmes, the licensing director of UCLA Trademarks and Licensing, has stated that UCLA makes $400,000 in royalties each year through its international licensing program.^[66]

Hospitality

Hospitality constituents of the university include departments not directly related to student life or administration. The Hospitality department manages the UCLA Guest House, a full-service, on-campus hotel. The 61-room Guest House services those visiting the university for campus-related activities.^[67] The department also manages the UCLA Conference Center, a 40 acre (0.2 km²) convention center in the San Bernardino Mountains near Lake Arrowhead.^[68] Hospitality also operates UCLA Catering, a Vending Machine distributor, and support for conferences on location.^[69]

UCLA Healthcare

The UCLA Medical Center is actually part of a larger healthcare system, UCLA Healthcare, which also operates a hospital in Santa Monica and seven primary care clinics throughout Los Angeles County. In addition, the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine uses two Los Angeles County public hospitals as teaching hospitals—Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center—as well as the largest private nonprofit hospital on the West Coast, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In 1981, the UCLA Medical Center made history when an assistant professor named Michael Gottlieb first diagnosed an unknown affliction later to be called AIDS. UCLA medical researchers pioneered the use of PET scanning to study brain function. The signaling cascade of Nitric oxide, one of the most important molecules in cardiopulmonary physiology was discovered in part by the medical school's Professor of Pharmacology Louis J. Ignarro. He shared the award with two other researchers - Robert F. Furchgott of the SUNY Health Science Center and Ferid Murad of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

In the 2007 edition of U.S. News and World Report, UCLA Medical Center was ranked best in the West, as well as one of the top 3 hospitals in the United States alongside Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 15 of the 16 medical specialty areas examined, UCLA Medical Center ranked in the top 20.^[70]

References