Two UCLA mock trial teams going to
nationals
UCLA’s mock trial program will send two teams to this
year’s national championship tournament in Iowa, after
placing first and fourth in regionals held this weekend at the
University of Southern California.
USC teams placed second and third and will be going to Iowa as
well. Two other UCLA teams took fifth and 10th place. Only the top
four teams go on to the national championship rounds.
In addition to taking two of the competition’s top slots,
UCLA students won three outstanding witness and three outstanding
attorney awards. Ten of each of those distinctions were presented
at the regionals.
Students participating in mock trial act as lawyers and
witnesses, trying a fictitious case in front of judges. This
year’s case involves a hockey player that kills another
player during a fight at a game.
This year’s mock trial national championship will be held
in April, when 64 teams will compete. Last year, UCLA sent two
teams to the tournament and took second and eighth place.
Because of the program’s success last year, students on
mock trial had high expectations for their performance this year.
David Lichtenstein, mock trial’s student director, said he
and others on the teams feel they are on target in terms of meeting
their goals.
“We think that we’re pretty much on the right track
““Â where we thought we would be. … We think we have a
chance to win come April,” he said.
Library seeks user input for new online
system
As the University Library works toward implementing its new
online information system, it is seeking input from students,
faculty and staff on refining the system’s current
prototype.
Voyager, the new information system, will help users track
library materials including new acquisitions, course reserves and
those needed for research. The current system, ORION2, lacks
Voyager’s ability to allow users to search for materials by
library.
The Library has a student and faculty advisory group to help
critique the functionality and graphic design of Voyager’s
public access catalog. Library staff are inviting additional
members of the campus community to participate in focus groups and
testing of a prototype.
According to a timeline on the Library’s Web site, the
process of implementing Voyager is on schedule thus far. A refined
prototype that better fits the campus’ needs will be
announced for broader review in April.
Voyager will replace ORION2 this coming summer. The switch from
the old system to the new is expected to cost about $2.5
million.
Students, staff and faculty interested in giving input in focus
groups should send an e-mail to new-orion@library.ucla.edu.