Smith Says: In the post-Alford era, UCLA’s faster tempo gives it a shot at a Pac-12 title

This coming offseason for UCLA men’s basketball will be a pivotal one.

The program is expected to launch an expansive coaching search for Steve Alford’s replacement, and while the Bruins accomplished just a 7-6 nonconference record including home losses to Belmont and Liberty, do not write off this season’s team.

Since naming Murry Bartow the interim head coach, UCLA has picked up back-to-back wins over Stanford and California to open up Pac-12 play. The Bruins are also playing a more exciting brand of basketball that is better suited for its young roster – play fast and live with the consequences.

In the 13 games played under Alford this season, UCLA scored just 76.5 points per game on an average of 74.3 possessions. Under Bartow, the Bruins are scoring 95 points per game on 80 possessions a night.

UCLA has also been scoring at a high clip in transition, averaging 21.5 fast break points per game in Bartow’s two games at the helm.

The uptick in pace has come at a price, as the Bruins have turned the ball over a combined 33 times in their last two contests. However, they understand that playing a more up-tempo style of basketball will lead to an increase in turnovers due to the elevated number of possessions it generates on a nightly basis.

But it’s not just the newfound style of play that should excite Bruins fans about the remainder of the season. Through one week of Pac-12 competition, it has become clear that the conference is wide open for the taking.

Despite all of its on-court struggles and injuries during the first two months of the season, UCLA still ranks among the top five in the conference in scoring, field goal percentage and assists per game.

The preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 – Oregon – lost freshman standout Bol Bol for the season last week after he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot. Bol was averaging 21 points and 9.6 rebounds per game before the injury – good for the team lead in both categories by a significant margin.

Outside of Oregon, the biggest competition for UCLA is expected to be Arizona. The Wildcats are 11-4 this season, but do not have the star power they have had in recent years with players such as Lauri Markkanen and Deandre Ayton.

Arizona also lost a number of its incoming recruits before the season due to reports of bribes being handed out by coach Sean Miller. One of those recruits happens to be UCLA freshman forward Shareef O’Neal, who is out for the season due to injury.

UCLA will head out for a three-game road trip beginning Thursday that includes visits to Oregon, Oregon State and USC before returning home Jan. 24.

If the Bruins can sustain the level of play they have showed under Bartow on the road, then the possibility of a Pac-12 title in Westwood won’t sound so crazy.

 

Women’s basketball tries to maintain positive outlook after loss to Stanford

This post was updated Jan. 9 at 4:52 p.m.

Japreece Dean picked up the stat sheet as she sat down for the press conference – and then she rolled her eyes and released a sigh of frustration.

The senior guard – who logged 22 points and four assists in UCLA women’s basketball’s (9-6, 2-1 Pac-12) 86-80 loss to No. 6 Stanford (12-1, 2-0) – asked to sub out in the third quarter after her third live-ball turnover of the game.

Dean went on to play 39 minutes and logged her second-best scoring performance of the season.

“That turnover was on me,” Dean said. “So I tried to fix my frustration by asking to come out of the game so that I could just take a deep breath.”

The Bruins suffered a third-quarter skid after outscoring the Cardinal in the other three quarters, falling short of their first top-10 upset bid of the season.

Coach Cori Close patted Dean on the shoulder before beginning her opening statement.

“I knew (the team) was going to grow into something special,” Close said. “I’m proud of the way that’s starting to come together.”

UCLA has gone 6-1 after a 3-5 start to the season, which included a loss to a now 9-7 Loyola Marymount team and a 34-point loss to North Carolina.

But Close has made adjustments since then and the team has responded.

The Bruins have shot 45.5 percent from the field in their last seven games, an improvement from 38.6 in their first eight outings. UCLA is now the top offensive rebounding team in the Pac-12 at 18.1 offensive boards per game and ranks fifth in the category nationally.

“They’re like a gazilion times better than their record,” said Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb after UCLA upset her then-No. 18 ranked team Friday.

The Bruins would be sitting at ninth in the conference based on overall record, but instead are tied for third after going 2-1 in their first three Pac-12 contests.

“I (told the team that) if you will continue to fight like (that) even though we didn’t get rewarded today, you will be rewarded down the road,” Close said.

With five teams ranked in the top 25, Close said that there will be no surprise when there are close games or upsets that happen consistently throughout the rest of the season – especially because teams have to play each other twice.

“The Pac-12 is the best conference in the country,” Close said. “Period.”

Close added that any Pac-12 game can be a toss-up this year, and will continue to play a role in the team’s mentality throughout the regular season and into the postseason.

“Getting a win on the road any time in the Pac-12 is very significant,” Close said. “I know for our confidence, but also in the NCAA picture.”

California’s high cut score leads to disproportionately low pass rate on bar exam

Hundreds of law students fail the bar exam in California, but would pass with the same score elsewhere due to varying standards between states.

California has the second-highest cut score, or minimum score required to pass the exam. California students must score a 1440 out of 2000 to pass, compared to the national average of 1350.

The state also has the second-lowest pass rate for the bar in the nation, after the District of Columbia. Less than half of students taking the California bar exam passed in 2018, the lowest pass rate since 1951.

Jennifer Mnookin, dean of the UCLA School of Law, said she thinks California would be better off if it lowered its cut score.

“It would be better for my students, but also for the state of California, and for access to justice, and for the diversity of the legal profession,” Mnookin said.

Jackson Hogan, a student at the UCLA School of Law, said he thinks requiring a higher score would make sense if the state could verify that a higher cut score ensured competency.

“Unless they were able to establish that the incompetent lawyers that were causing the problem had lower bar (exam scores) that caused the issue, then it seems like that’s creating a lot of stress for everybody,” Hogan said.

Mnookin said she thinks there is no evidence that a higher cut score produces better lawyers.

“California set its cut score a long time ago, and it didn’t do it after careful analysis and study,” Mnookin said. “It’s been kind of stuck there.”

She noted other Western states, including Washington and Oregon, had comparably high cut scores, but lowered them in recent years.

Mnookin also added the California Supreme Court has ordered studies to evaluate the impact of the high cut score, but these will take years to complete. She said she thinks the state should not wait on potentially unclear answers to act on an important public policy issue.

Divya Rao, a UCLA law student, said she thinks the school offers opportunities for students to prepare for the bar, if they choose to utilize them.

“I think the faculty is amazing, but if a student takes a conscious decision to not take doctrinal classes that are tested on the bar, I would not say it is the school’s fault if they fail,” Rao said.

She added she thinks everyone wishes the pass rate was higher, like New York’s 63 percent pass rate in 2018. New York’s cut score is 110 points lower than California’s, at 1330.

Ihaab Syed, a UCLA law student, said she thinks UCLA does not do enough to prepare students to take the exam and added she feels she needs outside preparation.

“The rates have made me take my studying more seriously and not put off studying for the exam, so I’m thinking about what I can do to start preparing early or what prebar things I can do,” Syed said.

Rao added she believes the cost of outside exam preparation courses and materials makes it more difficult for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to pass the bar. She said she thinks this reduces the diversity of lawyers in the state.

Mnookin said the California cut score has had a disproportionately negative effect on underrepresented minorities.

“We’re a state that values diversity, one of the most diverse in country, and our atypically high cut score is harming diversity (in) the population of lawyers,” Mnookin said.

If California moved the cut score to the national average, more than twice as many African-American students would have passed. The number of new Hispanic lawyers would have increased by an additional two-thirds.

Mnookin said she thinks it would be fairer all-around to lower the cut score to the national average.

“There’s an enormous number of students, including students of color, that (having taken) the exam in any other state would be beginning their careers as lawyers,” Mnookin said.

Contributing reports by Stephanie Lai and Inga Hwang, Daily Bruin contributors.

Depression Grand Challenge researchers speak at TEDxUCLA event about motivations

Researchers studying depression spoke about the reasons they study the condition and described the purpose and work of the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge at an event on campus Tuesday.

Speakers at the TEDxUCLA Salon talked about the DGC’s new research techniques, their efforts to help those with depression and personal stories about the effects of depression.

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge is an initiative that aims to end half of all depression by 2050, and to completely end depression by 2100. The DGC is conducting a 100,000-person study of depression and using digital tools to diagnose depression from sound recordings to learn more about the disease and its causes with the goal of eventually finding the best way to treat it.

Nelson Freimer, director of UCLA DGC, spoke about the purpose of the DGC and the work it does. Describing the initiative’s work, Freimer said little is known about depression despite its rising impact on people all over the world.

“We understand much less about what causes depression than what causes other terrible diseases, like cancer. And still, we’re only able to offer treatment that’s effective to about half of those who come to us seeking help,” Freimer said. “The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2030, just 11 years from now, depression will be the number one contributor to the global burden of disease.”

Depression currently affects more than 300 million people according to the World Health Organization. It affects people in different ways and is the strongest risk factor for suicide. Moreover, it can worsen the outcomes for patients who have other diseases, making conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer even worse.

Jonathan Flint, a DGC executive committee member, said he came to UCLA because researchers here are focused on discovering the causes of depression.

“The reason I’m standing here and the reason we know this is such a big problem is that we really don’t understand what causes depression,” Flint said. “UCLA has put at the center of its mission to cure depression a study to find the causes.”

Flint said all depression is commonly viewed as the same disease, when in reality there can be many differences from patient to patient, similar to those between different types of cancer.

Dorin Esfahani, associate director of development for the DGC, helped organize the event. She said the event began three years ago, when the advisory board of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA decided to hold community outreach programs to educate the public on mental health topics.

“This year the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital board of advisors decided they would focus on the topic of depression, because it’s not talked about nearly as much as other illnesses such as cancer,” Esfahani said. “I think people opened up and it started conversations and it paved the way for more events about depression and people educating themselves and sharing their stories.”

Freimer said depression affects everyone, and a strong effort must be made in order to completely eradicate it.

“Depression touches all of us. The one in four women, the one in six men who will experience at least one episode of major depressive disorder over their lifetimes are our coworkers, our friends, our family members, ourselves,” Freimer said. “UCLA must undertake the first steps to mount the global campaign to rid the world of the scourge of depression.”

UC Board of Regents considers eliminating student adviser position

The University of California Board of Regents will vote on whether to terminate the position of student adviser to the Regents at their meeting next week.

The student adviser, which is one of the three student positions on the board, advocates for undergraduate students on topics ranging from sexual assault policy to the cost of tuition.

The position was established through a pilot program in 2016, following a push to increase undergraduate student representation among the Regents, with a stipulation that a vote would be needed to continue the position beyond 2018, according to a statement from Richard Sherman, chair of the Governance and Compensation Committee.

Sherman initially recommended that the position not be extended because he thinks positions such as student advocates to the Regents and student observers provided sufficient student representation in board meetings already, making the position unnecessary.

The recommendation not to extend the position was based on a misunderstanding between the Regents office and student leadership, said Michael Skiles, graduate chair of the UC Council of Student Body Presidents.

Skiles said that during discussions between the Regents office and the heads of the UC Students Association, the UC Graduate and Professional Council, and the UC Council of Student Body Presidents, the student leaders expressed concerns about the lack of student interest in and financial support for the position, which the Regents office misinterpreted as reasons to end the position.

“The feedback we gave the board was very misinterpreted,” Skiles said.

Student adviser Edward Huang, Student Regent Devon Graves, Student Regent-designate Hayley Weddle, Skiles, UCSA leaders, the Council of Student Body Presidents and the heads of a number of other student organizations held a meeting in December to discuss the issue, in which they drafted a letter to the board making the case for extending the position.

Sherman and George Kieffer, chair of the Regents, released a statement reversing course from their previous position in response to the students’ letter. They will now recommend the board continue the position for another year, Sherman and Kieffer said in the statement.

Skiles said he thinks the student adviser position lacked sufficient financial support to become an effective voice for undergraduate students.

“There is no fee remission or funding for a staff. (Huang) had to beg just to get an office to work in,” Skiles said. “It’s not equitable to expect low-income students to work for free like this.”

He added he thinks the position has encouraged discussion of student concerns rarely acknowledged in the Regents committees.

Huang said the position has already seen success in advocating for lower tuition costs last year in Sacramento during the tenure of former student adviser Rafi Sands.

The issues the position advocated for that were most pertinent to students included discussions about tuition cost and sexual assault and sexual harassment policies, Huang said. He added he thinks the position brought a unique student perspective on these topics.

Huang added he thinks the student adviser position is important to the UC undergraduate community because it provides the image of undergraduate student representation in addition to its tangible successes.

“I’m supposed to be representing student concerns not well represented otherwise in board discussions. I give my perspective, engage in debates and take stances on a couple of particular issues,” Huang said. “There’s implicit expectations with such a role.”

Graves said he was initially in favor of terminating the position because he felt it lacked sufficient support and recruitment interest, but later agreed to support the letter to the board arguing for its continuation.

“Students serving in leadership positions should have access to the support and resources needed to be effective in their roles,” Graves said in a statement released December. “In the case of the student advisor, this infrastructure is not present.”

Graves added he was happy to endorse the letter recommending the position be extended once the student leaders agreed to push for additional resources for the student advisor in 2019.

“There was a miscommunication in the fall when this was originally discussed,” Graves said. “I’m now grateful the Regents are extending the pilot program and allowing student leaders to improve this process.”

Graves said both Sherman and Kieffer will recommend the student advisor position be extended when they meet with the board in January. He added he expects the position to remain in place for the year.

Bus service between Westwood and LAX reduces hours due to low ridership

This post was updated March 17 at 11:48 a.m.

A bus service to Los Angeles Interational Airport is reducing its operating hours in Westwood due to low ridership in the area.

The airport is reducing its FlyAway bus services, which offers hourly trips to and from Westwood and LAX. The bus will now run its Westwood routes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It previously ran from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Frederick Badlissi, a public information officer at LAX, said LAX decided to cut early morning and late night routes to and from Westwood due to infrequent ridership at those hours.

“The majority of riders use the FlyAway service between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” Badlissi said. “On average, fewer than one rider per trip utilized the FlyAway from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., which is why those trips were eliminated.”

Badlissi added that ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft have affected FlyAway bus ridership, leading fewer passengers to opt for the shuttle.

Saba Waheed, research director at the UCLA Labor Center, said she thinks the FlyAway bus is becoming less popular in Westwood because companies like Uber and Lyft subsidize their prices in order to make their services more appealing and affordable. She added that this is different than what LAX does with its prices for the FlyAway bus, which are set at $10 for a one-way fare.

“People will make choices, and a lot of times these choices center around cost. The thing is that even at this point, a lot of these Uber and Lyft rides are being subsidized by those companies,” Waheed said. “My concern is, how long can that last for?”

Jayesh Menon, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, said he prefers to travel to and from LAX in an Uber because it is more convenient to call an Uber than walk to the FlyAway bus, which is located at each terminal in front of the FlyAway bus stop.

“My friends and I have trouble carrying our luggage that far,” Menon said. “With Ubers, we still have to carry it a bit because of the traffic, but it’s not as far as for the shuttle.”

Shangshang Wang, a third-year financial actuarial mathematics student, said he also prefers to take Ubers between LAX and Westwood, but is open to taking the FlyAway bus when he travels with a group of friends.

“I think it’s fun because a lot of friends can ride on there and can take it together,” Wang said. “If I have a couple of friends with me, I prefer the bus, but if I am by myself, I prefer the Uber.”

Badlissi said LAX is working to promote the FlyAway bus to Westwood residents and UCLA students in order to increase ridership.

“We’ve learned that when people know about it, they tend to try it, and end up preferring it to other options,” Badlissi said. “Based on that, we are working with groups at UCLA and throughout Westwood to increase awareness of the Westwood FlyAway.”

Bungled rollout of legal recreational marijuana weakens legitimate vendors

It’s impossible not to be confronted with broken promises and dashed expectations looking back on the first year of California’s legal recreational marijuana market.

In fact, you would have to be smoking something pretty strong to see California’s efforts as anything less than a disappointment.

California’s pot legalization, hailed as a giant leap forward in marijuana policy and a potentially viable model for state legalization efforts all over the nation, has devolved into an infinitely confusing regulatory boondoggle that has both legislators and citizens trying to figure out just what went wrong. But it doesn’t take a policy wonk to spot the glaring structural issues that have dogged the state’s legalization efforts from the beginning.

Municipalities are able to decide individually whether they are going to allow cannabis sales, but they also can pass their own regulations and taxes on the marketplace With only 20 percent of California cities allowing marijuana sales, it’s not hard to see why the state is experiencing falling legal pot sales and lackluster tax revenue.

Californians made it clear legalized marijuana is what they wanted, but because of the state’s inept attempt at regulation, California is left with a system that sets up every imaginable barrier to legal marijuana and bolsters an already robust black market. Legislators need to streamline the regulatory apparatus to set the Golden State on track and foster a legal marijuana marketplace that is both safe and fair.

It’s clear that local approval of cannabis sales must be the first thing out the door. Cities are given broad authority in determining if their municipalities allow for a legal cannabis market and how that market should be regulated. The result is a confusing jumble of differing regulatory environments, making compliance unrealistic for all but the biggest marijuana sellers.

Given the expense and hassle of dealing in the legal marketplace, many small- to medium-sized sellers see no benefit in operating legally. California is home to the largest illicit marijuana market in the U.S., meaning sellers who do choose to operate outside of the law have access to a sophisticated network. The high costs of legal operation and relative ease of conducting business in the shadows only ensures the illegal marijuana market will grow.

This is exacerbated by the fact that the vast majority of municipalities have opted against legal marijuana marketplaces. As a result, easy access to legal pot is available to few consumers across the state. With a plentiful supply of black market marijuana, it’s unrealistic to expect consumers to travel large distances to legal markets. Given how underserved the state is, it is hard to imagine that demand for illicit markets will go away any time soon. For example, large swaths of the Los Angeles populace, including Burbank, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Compton, Redondo Beach and Calabasas, ban cannabis sales.

Even in cities where legal marijuana is an option, a confusing amalgamation of taxes and fees has the potential to hike up prices by 45 percent. While marijuana should be taxed similar to other “vice” products, allowing for such hefty fee schemes is counterintuitive. When an illegal marketplace is able to offer the product at a much lower price, consumers have little incentive to participate in the legal, regulated market.

If the state wants to solve these problems, it needs to set up a uniform regulatory system with few, if any, exceptions. Such a system will create a single marketplace that can be regulated effectively. Not only will all consumers have access to legal cannabis, but a single marketplace will cut operating costs for sellers both big and small, allowing for more reasonably priced cannabis.

What’s more, a streamlined regulatory system will increase access to and improve prices of legal cannabis, thus cutting into the illicit marketplace. As a result, more people will buy into the regulated marketplace and the state finally will see substantial additional tax revenue – one of the motivations for legalization in the first place.

A streamlined regulatory system also levels the playing field between large corporations and small growers, defending against a situation where a few big, wealthy players control the marketplace – a situation detrimental to consumers’ wallets and health. One need not look any further than Big Tobacco in the 20th century for an example of just how bad this could be. Additionally, many of these smaller growers exist in underserved markets. Making it feasible for them to operate legally would certainly allow for both healthy industry growth and competition.

A scheme even remotely similar to the one outlined above certainly will face fierce opposition. The general argument coming from this camp is that municipalities have a right to determine individually whether cannabis is sold in their areas. However, even if the system was working – it isn’t – the fact remains that statewide marijuana legalization was something Californians overwhelmingly supported. Having only 20 percent of cities offer a legal marketplace is ludicrous and undemocratic.

What makes opposition all the more egregious is how counterproductive it is. An overhaul of the current system would cut down on harmful, unregulated marketplaces while actually bringing tax benefits to the state. The hodgepodge of regulations and restrictions does little to curb the sale of marijuana; rather, it drives it into an underground market that only encourages crime and harmful practices the state has sought to defend against.

Californians sought a healthy and facilitated marijuana marketplace in 2016. Cities need to stop curbing those highs.