Tuesday, October 28, 1997
Community Briefs
UCLA Mideast experts say war is nigh
War in the Mideast is more likely now than at any other time in
the 1990s, according to "Peace Pulse," a joint project of the UCLA
Center for International Relations and Israel Policy Forum.
Peace Pulse uses 14 indicators to compile a "score" for the
mideast peace process. Scores range from 0 to 10, where 0
represents "total war" and 10 "total peace." The score for
September 1997 was 2.4, the lowest this decade and 41 percent lower
than the score for June 1997.
"(The) meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman
Arafat was long overdue. Our latest data show in graphic detail
that the Middle East has crossed a red line into a zone of real
danger. As the two leaders seem to have recognized, rapid
diplomatic progress is now needed to turn things around," said UCLA
professor of political science and director of the Peace Pulse
Project, Steven L. Spiegel.
Peace Pulse determined that increased political violence, which
now has an individual rating of 0 — down from 7 in June — is the
single most important factor in the precipitous decline in the
rating.
Professor Spiegel said that many people read dire headlines
about the Mideast, but most don’t understand the danger. "Based on
our analyses of trends going back to 1990," said Spiegel, "we can
now say conclusively that war is more likely than peace, and the
slightest spark could set the region on fire."
The UCLA Center for International Relations is a research and
teaching institution that focuses on international affairs.
Community health receives grant
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has received a
$754,000 three-year frant from The California Endowment. The funds
will be used for conducting health policy workshops and giving
community-based organizations technical assistance.
Free medical clinics, health advocacy groups and other such
organizations will be given workships to enhance their
effectiveness in using data for policy development and
advocacy.
"This grant will allow us to expand our efforts to act as a
resource for community-based efforts to aid the most disadvantaged
and at-risk groups in California," said E. Richard Brown, director
of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The California Endowment was established in 1996 with a mission
to improve and promote quality health care for underserved
individuals and to promote fundamental improvements in th4 health
status of all California residents.
The grant will create a "community scholar" program that will
allow members of the local health advocacy community to study and
teach in the Schools of Public Health and the School of Public
Policy and Social Research.
USC janitors trick or treat for contracts
Over 200 University of Southern California janitors and their
families marched in a union rally last week dressed in Halloween
costumes in an attempt to "trick or treat" for union contracts.
The march started at Figueroa Street at Exposition Boulevard and
went to the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street, as
janitors and their children dressed in mop wigs, prison uniforms
and witches costumes chanted for justice.
The 220 janitors, who work on both university campuses, and are
represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local
1877, have been negotiating their contract since this summer.
Compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports