Monthly Archives: November 2015

UCLA volunteers visited the VA campus to help out at the Westside Thanksgiving Community Dinner and Celebration.

A bus of about 60 UCLA alumni, faculty and students unloaded at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System campus to volunteer during the annual Westside Thanksgiving Community Dinner and Celebration.

The effort was put together by the UCLA Volunteer Center, in partnership with UCLA Alumni Affairs, as part of its One Bus, One Cause program. This is the second year that the event has taken place at the VA campus, and approximately half of the thousands of people served were veterans visiting or living at the site.

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UCLA visited Los Angeles City Hall to give an update on Volunteer Day and receive a special proclamation.

UCLA representatives were given a special proclamation from the Los Angeles City Council on Nov. 24 for the work done during the 2015 UCLA Volunteer Day.

City Council members lauded the event after hearing the final results. There were 5,495 total volunteers working at 48 community partner sites, which included city schools and parks. Overall, there were 26,980 hours served by the volunteers and the total value of service for the volunteer day is estimated at approximately $724,952.60.

UCLA Volunteer Day took place on Saturday, Sept. 26, with at least one site in every City Council district.

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Assemblymember Rudy Salas greets the crowd during a luncheon at UCLA.

Assemblymember Rudy Salas ’00, of the 32^nd California Assembly District visited UCLA on Nov. 13 to discuss several major topics of interest including access to education and drought remedies, while also reconnecting with his alma mater.

Salas met with Associate Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability Mark Gold to discuss the status of the UCLA Grand Challenge Sustainable L.A., and also the types of water storage research taking place on campus. The Assemblymember represents the Central Valley (Bakersfield, Arvin, Delano, McFarland, etc.) and serves on the Agriculture Committee.

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Panelists speak to a crowd of young alumni during a special event at the Grammy Museum.

It takes persistence, good relationships and a strong set of priorities to make it in politics, UCLA alumni panelists said in an event to cultivate young alumni advocates. Entitled, “More Than a House of Cards”, the Nov. 12 reception and panel at the Grammy Museum drew more than 100 people to discuss civic engagement.

The event included a panel with four UCLA alumni with political experiences: Neera Tanden ’92, President of the Center for American Progress and former senior advisor to President Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton; 53^rd District California Assemblymember Miguel Santiago ‘98; Maricela Gomez ’99, Paramount Pictures Director of Real Estate & Government Relations; and Moises Merino ’00, political consultant for Revolvis Consulting.

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A group of mostly entertainment industry experts spoke with the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on copyright laws Nov. 10.

Copyright issues surrounding all facets of the entertainment industry were at the heart of a special roundtable discussion at UCLA.

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held the discussion on Nov. 10, which was part of the Committee’s national copyright review. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) first announced the Committee’s intention to undertake a comprehensive bipartisan review of U.S. copyright law at World Intellectual Property Day in April 2013.

The goal of the Committee’s review has been to determine whether the copyright laws are still working in the digital age to reward creativity and innovation. As part of the copyright review process, the Committee has held 20 congressional hearings, which have included testimony from 100 witnesses.

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UCLA honored veterans with a special ceremony on Wednesday at Wilson Plaza.

More than 350 UCLA community members — veterans, ROTC cadets, faculty, staff, alumni and friends — gathered in Wilson Plaza Nov. 11 for UCLA’s eighth annual Veterans Day ceremony to honor current military service members and veterans.

Thanking them for their service, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block talked about UCLA’s innovative programs that care for the physical and mental health needs of veterans and military service members and about the university’s 70-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles campus. There are new opportunities for further collaboration, he pointed out, as leaders develop a master plan to transform that campus into a 21st century space for veterans.

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