Community Briefs

Players host benefit for UCLA diabetes
center

Professional baseball players Todd Zeile and Mark Grudzielanek
will co-host a benefit Monday at Dodger Stadium for UCLA’s
Children’s Diabetes Center.

Zeile, a former Dodger and Bruin, is the first baseman for the
New York Mets. He is also the father of a two-year-old girl who was
diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and received care at the
center.

“My wife and I are very grateful for the exceptional care
our daughter has received … and we wanted to give something back
to the Children’s Diabetes Center at UCLA,” Zeile
said.

Grudzielanek, the second baseman for the Dodgers, became
involved with the event due to his experiences with his brother,
who also suffered from juvenile diabetes.

In addition to $30,000 donated by MetroSplash.com, fundraising
will be held through ticket sales and a silent auction.

VIP Premium Packages include preferred-seating tickets to the
Dodger-Mets game, access to a post-game VIP reception and a silent
auction. The packages, which range from $1,000 to $25,000, also
include field walk-ons, locker-room tours, autograph signing and
game souvenirs.

General admission tickets ($25) are also available, with $10 of
each sale going to the diabetes center.

To purchase VIP packages, call Dr. Kevin Kaiserman at (310)
825-8317. General admission tickets are available at the Central
Ticket Office.

UC Merced selects bobcat as its mascot

First the Bear, then the Bruin. Now, after a menagerie that
included the Anteater and the Banana Slug, the University of
California’s 10th campus has selected its mascot ““ the
Golden Bobcat.

The fast and sleek feline is indigenous to the foothills near
where UC Merced is scheduled to open in 2004.

The selection of UC Merced’s mascot follows a seven-month
contest where school children in the Merced area were asked for
their suggestions.

Lisa Lopez was one of 25 to suggest the winning mascot and was
selected to win a four-year student fees scholarship. She also
received a $1,000 textbook scholarship at a news conference
Wednesday announcing the selection.

“I’m delighted to award this scholarship to Lisa
Lopez and I look forward to watching her progress in junior high
and high school,” said Merced Chancellor Carol
Tomlinson-Keasey. “It will be a thrill to welcome her to UC
Merced in a few short years.”

The UC Merced Mascot Committee sifted through about 2,500
entries that included everything from alligators to zebras and
cyclones to computer chips. Several Pokémon characters also
received nominations.

Lecture established to honor UCLA professor

The American Academy of Pediatrics has established an annual
lecture to honor the career of Leonard Apt, professor of
ophthalmology and emeritus head of pediatric ophthalmology at
UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute.

As the first board-certified physician in both pediatrics and
ophthalmology, Apt helped create the new medical subspecialty of
pediatric ophthalmology. He established at UCLA the first full-time
division of pediatric ophthalmology at a medical school in the
United States.

The Leonard Apt Lecture recognizes Apt for his years of
dedicated teaching and for his outstanding contributions in the
fields of both pediatrics and pediatric ophthalmology.

The first Leonard Apt Lecture was presented recently at the
Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus annual
meeting in San Diego.

Compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports.

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