UCLA: Building for Tomorrow

UCLA has recently made three significant real estate acquisitions that aim to strengthen its connection and commitment to Los Angeles while paving the way for the future. These acquisitions include UCLA South Bay, the university's largest land addition since it established its presence in Westwood. The university also is shaping UCLA Downtown in a historic building located in the city's vibrant core. And lastly, it is developing UCLA Research Park on the site of a defunct mall on the Westside, transforming it into a hub of scientific discovery. These acquisitions are part of UCLA's five-year Strategic Plan, which emphasizes the university’s commitments to education, research and community engagement. To learn more about these acquisitions, UCLA Magazine offers a history and explanation of each.

Related: EVCP Darnell Hunt on UCLA’s New Strategic Plan

The New Frontiers: A series of new property additions will expand UCLA’s ability to serve students and the city of Los Angeles

Gaps for Black Californians would take centuries to close

Changes to demographic data collection could be a boon to public health

The Biden administration has announced major revisions to how the government collects data about race and ethnicity for the first time in nearly three decades. The new rules, aimed at creating more accurate and inclusive data, will help inform policymaking and legal research on public health. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, among others, provided detailed recommendations to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget on the proposed changes. The revisions include the elimination of separate questions for selecting “race” and “ethnicity” in favor of a single question that allows respondents to choose multiple categories related to their identity. The government will also collect further information on identity to ensure “disaggregation in the collection, tabulation, and presentation of data,” which could prove crucial to ensuring that communities can access and receive programs and resources they need.

Q&A: Lynn Vavreck discusses Biden, Trump and America’s political divide

As voters gear up for what is likely to be a second presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the country's political and social divisions have grown beyond government-centric election issues to more personal matters of identity.

Lynn Vavreck, UCLA's Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy, offers her expertise on campaigns, elections, and public opinion. Her latest book, "The Bitter End: The 2020 Presidential Campaign and the Challenge to American Democracy," is co-authored with UCLA political scientist Chris Tausanovitch and draws observations and insights from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project, a wide-ranging weekly public opinion survey of the American electorate conducted in the years leading up to and after the 2020 presidential election. Vavreck discusses the top issues influencing voters in 2024, including the potential impact of Trump's legal cases.

Questioning the premises of long-term incarceration

California has the third highest number of people serving life without the possibility of parole in the U.S. The University of California Sentencing Project has received a $2-million grant from the Mellon Foundation to engage people and communities with lived experience of our nation’s criminal justice system. The project aims to provide a better understanding of racial and gendered drivers of long-term sentences in California; highlight the impact of those sentences on individuals, their families and communities; and give those most impacted by extreme sentencing an opportunity to voice their accounts of the U.S. criminal legal system. The project is a collaboration between UCLA and UC San Diego, as well as currently and formerly incarcerated individuals from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and the Felony Murder Elimination Project.

Metro Purple Line Extension project marks a milestone

LA Metro recently celebrated the completion of tunneling for the D Line Subway Extension Project, also known as the Purple Line. This marks a major milestone in connecting Downtown Los Angeles with some of the most significant locations on the Westside, including UCLA, Westwood, and the VA Hospital. When the project is complete (expected in 2027), Angelenos will be able to travel between these areas in less than 25 minutes.

Related: L.A. Metro’s D Line hits a milestone: Tunneling is complete for expansion to the Westside

Tunneling is finished on LA Metro D Line extension, a milestone for $9.5B project

‘The UC Effect’: Shaping the future of AI

How can artificial intelligence best serve society? With that question on many minds, the University of California recently held an Academic Congress on Artificial Intelligence to discuss the impact of AI on society, its benefits and perils — and the role the university can play in leading the way forward. In 2021, UC became the first university system in the nation to develop and adopt a set of recommendations to guide the ethical development and implementation of AI in a university setting, along with guidance on how to operationalize the principles in areas that pose the highest risk to individual rights, such as health services, human resources, admissions and grading. The Congress brought together minds from across the University of California’s 10 campuses, three national labs, and six academic health centers. The goal: to guide the development of AI in service of the public good.

Q&A: Tyrone Howard to lead 2024 AERA annual meeting

WATCH: A walk with Chancellor Block
 
Join the chancellor as he walks to work — and answers some of our pressing questions.

From ‘Rags’ to Bruins 

UCLA's Bruin mascot is an enduring symbol of the university's pride, history and athletic achievement. But did you know that the university's mascot was not always a Bruin? UCLA Magazine delves into the history of UCLA's mascot and how it evolved from a stray dog to a grizzly bear and finally to the beloved Bruin we know today.

UCLA receives $5-million grant to align neuroscience and societal

No Sweat: A Bruin scientist discovers a radically easy new way to diagnose stress — and do something about it

A new technology developed by scientist Chuanzhen Zhao can measure stress hormones in perspiration, helping people to take proportional steps to deal with stress. This technology uses wrist patches known as biosensors to measure cortisol, a known stress hormone, by "tasting" everyday sweat. Unlike traditional tests that require invasive methods, these sensors are non-invasive and can be worn like a nicotine patch on the wrist. Zhao has won several awards for his groundbreaking work, including the Nanotechnology Council's Best PhD Thesis Award. He is currently developing wearable sensors that can monitor mental health and other diseases.

A better transfer system | LAist

UCLA study: ‘Despair’-related deaths of Blacks, Native Americans overtake those of whites | Daily Breeze

Water pollution is fueling ocean acidification | Los Angeles Times

New report, authored by researchers at UCLA and the Bipartisan Policy Center confirms ‘exodus’ of local voting officials | National Public Radio

UCLA student super-commuters search for relief | Los Angeles Times

New delays for LAX People Mover  | Los Angeles Times