New humanities dean named
Gabrielle Spiegel, an internationally renowned historian who has
served in national leadership roles in historical studies, has been
named dean of humanities in the UCLA College.
Spiegel’s appointment, pending approval by the UC Regents,
is effective July 1. She takes over for English Professor Eric
Sundquist, who is serving a one-year appointment since former Dean
Pauline Yu was named president of the American Council of Learned
Societies.
“Dr. Spiegel is a superb scholar and academic leader who
comes to her new post with an abiding commitment to
interdisciplinary scholarship,” said UCLA Chancellor Albert
Carnesale.
Currently the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of History at Johns
Hopkins University, Spiegel is a medieval scholar whose work
focuses on French literature, literary and cultural theory, and
historiography (the practice and theory of writing history).
Compiled from Bruin wire services. Read the Daily Bruin on
Wednesday for a profile on the new dean.
MoveOn.org revealed to be funded beyond
grassroots
BERKELEY “”mdash; Although the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org
touts itself as a grassroots political group, records show that a
sizable lump of money comes from just two donors.
A review of the Berkeley-based group’s first-quarter
fund-raising showed nearly half its $6.98 million came from Peter
Lewis, chairman of Progressive Corporation, a Cleveland insurance
company, and billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Lewis has
donated $2 million to the group and Soros has given more than $1
million, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.
The directors of MoveOn, which has pledged to
“˜”˜bring ordinary people back into
politics,” say the group still fits the description of
a grassroots organization. The average donation from its 160,000
supporters is about $60, they said.
“˜”˜We think it’s appropriate, because it levels
the playing field,” said the group’s founder,
Wes Boyd, who says the large donations have helped the group raise
twice as much in small donations. “˜”˜We are dogged
opponents of the Bush administration, because of the issues,
because of the policy.”
MoveOn and other groups hope to make up for the imbalance
between the $108 million remaining in Bush’s re-election
campaign and the $32.2 million fueling that of his likely
Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
Reports from Bruin wire services.