Daily Bruin – Page 48

Ford Foundation grants UCLA $1.5M to support immigrant youth and workers

UCLA received $1.5 million to help disadvantaged populations such as undocumented workers and children of immigrant families.

The Ford Foundation awarded the grant to UCLA, a university press release announced Thursday. The foundation will endow one $750,000 grant to the UCLA Labor Center – part of the UCLA College’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment – and another to the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

The grant will support the labor center’s Dream Resource Center and ReWork, two projects dedicated to creating a more equal economy for immigrant families, according to the UCLA Labor Center’s website. The grant will also help the center provide technical assistance to Los Angeles worker centers and evaluate state workforce development programs.

The Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education aims to research and publish information on the experiences of children born in other countries. The grant will specifically help develop three projects, including Re-imagining Migration, which develops curricula for educators to combat misconceptions about immigration and build a national media campaign to change the general public attitude toward migrants, according to the university press release.

The foundation was established in 1936 by Edsel Ford – son of Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company. The Ford Foundation has provided grants to UCLA for over 60 years, with its philanthropy focused on combating poverty and promoting international cooperation, according to the press release.

The foundation’s contribution is a part of the Centennial Campaign for UCLA, which will last until December 2019.

Students voice concerns about bathroom policy, security camera monitoring

This post was updated on June 3 at 11:46 a.m.

Students voiced their questions and concerns about two new campus policy drafts regarding monitoring security cameras on campus and gender inclusive facilities at a town hall Tuesday.

UCLA Policy 890, Gender Inclusive Facilities, outlines new requirements for gender inclusive facilities on campus. Policy 133, Security Camera Systems, seeks to create a centralized database of recorded images and establish guidelines for the removal of cameras that are not compliant with the new policy. Both policies drafts were posted in late May for student review.

Students at the town hall said they think Policy 890 should be further revised to address potentially discriminatory language.

Policy 890 will require all new campus buildings to have at least one multi-stall gender-inclusive bathroom within the building or at least two bathrooms within a 2-minute walk. Buildings that do not have a gender-inclusive bathroom have the option to renovate their restroom to comply with the policy.

Chelsea Dyapa, a third-year philosophy student, said they thought the policy was discriminatory because it could potentially be too costly to implement, limiting the number of gender-inclusive facilities campuswide. Dyapa added they think the policy should go further to increase facility accessibility to LGBTQ and nonbinary people on campus.

“Specifically the floor-to-ceiling dividers for all-gender restrooms, they want them to be much … longer than for men’s and women’s restroom, and we take this as a sign of transphobia because … this basically comes out of a want for privacy and an all-gender restroom, and that want for privacy comes from a fear of trans and nonbinary people,” Dyapa said.

Robert Gamboa, chair of the UCLA committee on LGBTQ affairs and graduate student in the school of public affairs, said while administrators have been supportive of the LGBTQ community in drafting Policy 890, he thinks it still needs further revisions to become more financially feasible. Gamboa said the height requirements for the bathroom stall partitions could inhibit renovations for multistall gender inclusive restrooms by driving costs up.

“Let’s put a policy … in place that’s equitable, but it’s not cost prohibitive, and it’s not transphobic or homophobic in any way,” Gamboa said.

Assistant Vice Chancellor Kelly Schmader said he is glad to receive input from students at the town hall in regard to Policy 890 because he learned about concerns regarding the policy that he had not considered.

“I was surprised to learn that there’s concern about the floor-to-ceiling partitions, which I thought would be something that would be well received, and unfortunately, are being interpreted as being discriminatory,” Schmader said. “(But) that’s the beauty of having a 30-day review period, and having students like ours who are willing to come out and voice their concerns.”

Students also voiced their concerns about potential racial profiling via security camera monitoring in regard to Policy 133, which students and faculty had previously addressed in a town hall in September.

Eduardo Velasquez, Undergraduate Students Association Council general representative, said he thinks some of the language in the policy, especially regarding live camera monitoring, may be too open to interpretation to effectively protect against racial profiling.

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck said the policy should not lead to racial profiling because it only permits live camera monitoring under specific parameters.

“One of the parameters is that you actually can only be monitoring behaviors and not specific identities,” Beck said.

There are currently 2,500 cameras on campus that are not regulated by a single policy, said Beck. He also said the policy aims to unify regulations on campus security cameras and remove those that do not comply.

Salvador Martinez, a third-year applied mathematics student who helped organize the town hall, said he thinks administrators adequately dealt with student concerns and added he was glad several students attended the town hall even though it was held late in the quarter.

Schmader said he was impressed by the number of students who attended the town hall during week nine and said he commended Beck for making the policy review process more accessible to students.

“Anytime we’re dealing with a policy that has student concerns, then we’re going to have these kind of forums where (students) can express themselves in person, that never was here before,” Schmader said. “I commend him for that, it takes more work from people like me on the staff, but it makes it all worthwhile.”

The review periods for policies 890 and 133 ends June 20, after which administrators will take student input into account and propose more revisions.

Delivery service NEED Westwood rides into UCLA, but on electric scooters

Students should only worry about taking exams – not getting the blue books needed for them, said Angel Herrera.

Co-founded in 2019 by the third-year theater student alongside his friends, second-year economics and philosophy student David Lin and second-year film student Rohun Vora, NEED Westwood features student couriers completing delivery services on electric scooters. Vora said customers use the company’s website to order, in which no sign-ups or credit cards are mandatory upfront. Lin said their company is useful on campus because they understand the student body and are familiar with students’ lifestyles.

“A lot of people try to pin students down and predict things, (but) what we are learning every single day is that the student body of UCLA is vastly complex,” Vora said. “There’s a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things change all the time and it’s really interesting just figuring out … what do people need.”

NEED sees themselves as the next version of a convenience store, Vora said. The company’s most popular orders are Guayakí Yerba Mate, Chips Ahoy! and Double Stuf Oreos, and they aim to incorporate healthier options such as fruit cups in the future, Herrera said. He said supplies for orders are held in Lin’s apartment for the couriers to pick up and deliver.

The couriers deliver their items via electric scooters, which can access routes that cars cannot, Vora said. Delivery services like Postmates typically have trouble completing their orders within an hour due to traffic, and Herrera said the scooters eliminate that issue. Herrera also said employees are encouraged to wear helmets and drive in designated bike lanes when operating electric scooters to avoid injuries.

“Life is good when you are on an (electric scooter),” Herrera said. “When it’s sunny out … and the wind’s hitting me in the face, it’s serene (and) fun.”

Marcel Salapa, an alumnus and customer, said he occasionally doesn’t have the time to buy an energy drink before going to the John Wooden Center to work out. Instead of going to a store, he said NEED delivers his energy drinks to him at the designated location. Using electric scooters for deliveries is also beneficial to the environment, he said.

“The fact that they’re not using cars is a big step forward – especially in a place like Westwood where it’s probably even easier to get around … using (electric scooters),” Salapa said. “We don’t need more cars on the road so … using electric scooters is really innovative.”

Herrera said time is a commodity for students, and the company helps students who are in a pinch for time – especially before exams. It takes about six minutes for couriers on electric scooters to travel from their apartment to the farthest location on North Campus, Lin said. And unlike outside delivery services, Lin said their UCLA-based employees know the campus and Westwood surroundings well and are less likely to get lost.

Although it is difficult to predict items that students will need, Lin said the company understands students’ social dynamics more than other competitors that are not student-run. The company provides a way for students to reduce their time walking and worrying about their commute to the store, Lin said.

“Our time right now in these four years are the most valuable asset,” Lin said. “What (the company) can really provide students, in terms of value, is reducing their time.”

Alumnus discusses playing a doctor on ‘New Amsterdam,’ what sets it apart

Jocko Sims has about 10 minutes to learn how to perform a medical procedure when he arrives at work.

The alumnus portrays Dr. Floyd Reynolds, a hospital’s head of cardiac surgery, on NBC’s series “New Amsterdam.” Sims said when he reaches the set, he receives a 10-minute crash course lesson on the procedure he is performing as well as proper medical terminology.

The medical drama, which ended its first season May 14, is based on true stories from the book “Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital,” written by Dr. Eric Manheimer. Sims said Manheimer wrote the memoir to reflect on his experiences – particularly his frustrations toward the bureaucracy and formalities of the health care system – as the medical director of America’s oldest public hospital. While playing a fictional character in a hospital based off the memoir, Sims said he learned about health care policies that people often deal with.

“What we try to do is tell this beautiful, heartwarming story – some of it real, some of it made up – and we also like to educate the country as to what’s really going on behind the scenes,” Sims said.

Every week, Sims said both himself and the show’s viewers learn more about the struggles that persist inside hospital walls. He met with the head of Bellevue’s cardiac surgical department, who he said faced the challenge of running a short-staffed department.

Sims also spoke to different medical professionals to properly execute procedures on screen. When acting out surgeries, Sims said some of the people behind him who may seem like nurses or medical assistants are actually real professionals in the field.

One of Sims’ advisers has been practicing medicine for 27 years. Sims struggles with suturing – putting together a stitch – in the show, he said, and often fumbles. So some of Reynolds’ suturing shots are actually his advisors’ hands. The rest of the shots are still performed by Sims, with his advisor aiding in terminology.

“He’s making sure I look like I know what I’m doing, and making it look like I’ve been to school for 12 years and I’ve done 200 of these surgeries. The medical advisors, they’ve seen it all,” Sims said. “I learn from them every day.”

But Sims said “New Amsterdam” viewers do not need to be interested in the medical field to enjoy the drama’s scenes. Viewers keep up with the show because it depicts medical issues that people across the country are also dealing with, Sims said.

“You can have something that’s a little more everyday, like a headache, and then you dig deeper and you find that this person is having an aneurysm. That kind of scares people; it makes it interesting for them to watch,” he said. “These are things that can happen to all of us and all of us will be in the hospital one day unfortunately.”

Beyond scientific issues, Sims said “New Amsterdam” also addresses the red tape in health care – excessive bureaucracy and policies – that Manheimer discussed in his memoir. One of the show’s storylines follows a young boy who undergoes a heart transplant and needs specific medications after the surgical procedure, but his parents had to cut his dosage in half after losing their insurance.

Fowsia Shariff, a viewer who runs an Instagram fan account for “New Amsterdam,” said the boy’s parents in the episode are given the option to divorce to qualify for medical coverage and provide their son with the medications, but are no longer able to marry again. While they eventually received their son’s medications, Shariff said she saw all the complications they had to go through. She said the show opened her eyes to the health care system’s different layers, such as the financial rules and loopholes.

There are often medical inaccuracies in medical dramas, said third-year biology student Jaqueline Madrigal, a pre-med student who volunteers at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She has not watched “New Amsterdam,” but she said she has noticed incorrect medical practices in shows like “The Good Doctor.” Even though medical dramas can lose their scientific credibility, she said she likes that shows are promoting more awareness about disparities in health care.

Issues concerning medical finances and accessibility impact many people and will continue to abound in America unless they are talked about, Sims said. He has learned about the absurdities within health care while filming, Sims said, and hopes viewers learn while watching too.

“It’s a very relatable situation and putting it in the realm of film and television, you have the ability to heighten the stakes and make it very interesting,” he said. “What sets our show apart from all the others out there, we are the only medical drama on television out there based on a true story.”

Student film blends comedy and horror to make light of irrational fears

A rustling sound outside a tent can’t mean anything good in a horror movie, but this takes a twist in “Camp Willowcreek.”

Two girls encounter this situation in third-year film and television student Nora McCoy’s short film, which follows their discovery of a strange forest creature while camping. But the potential threat evolves into a gentle, friendly monster to show that looks can be deceiving, McCoy said. Despite their fears, the creature simply wants to socialize and play cards with the campers, showing they had no reason to be scared. Filmed in May, the horror film is meant to be funny while maintaining the poignant message that not everything is as it seems, McCoy said.

“Being scared in a tent in the dark is a universal thing we’ve all seen in horror movies,” McCoy said. “With comedy, I wanted to show that most of it happens in your head.”

The horror genre relies on the fear of others, but McCoy said it has a high potential to be cheesy because it’s easy for the audience to see what filmmakers are attempting. If their attempt fails in a given scene, the moment is ruined and rendered humorous. McCoy said the horror genre can be tricky to execute well because it’s so subjective, so she decided to mix comedy into her film through the forest monster’s friendly attitude.

But blending two moods is not as simple as it sounds, McCoy said, especially considering the filming method used. The entire movie was filmed in a six-person tent often occupied by seven people, and cameras and lighting equipment made it difficult to film from multiple angles, McCoy said.

To help her with the cinematographic elements that created a sense of horror, McCoy enlisted help from third-year film and television student Katie Speare, who was the director of photography for the project. Speare used photographic tools such as vintage lighting to capture the combination of genres. The rustic light gave the film a near-sepia tone, giving the tent an eerie ambiance, Speare said. To achieve a classic horror vibe, there was an antique-looking lantern hanging from the top of the tent, Speare said. There were also lights shining from under the actors’ faces, recalling the classic image of people telling scary stories by a campfire.

The lighting in particular contributed to the horror aesthetic, McCoy said. But the responsibility of encapsulating the scary mood also fell on the actors, especially actors who have to act inhuman, McCoy said. Actor Jesse Contente, who played the forest monster named Steve, said the film used close-up shots in which he’d flash his gross, stained teeth, and one of the girls would scream, further contributing to the classic horror vibe.

“I basically had to forget everything I knew about human interactions to play Steve,” Contente said.

These close-up shots were supposed to be over-the-top, including dramatic sound effects like the screeching violin, Speare said. Despite the fictitious nature of the monster, the character was grounded in reality, Contente said; he was depicted as a man who had been in the forest for so long that he forgot how to be a person. The supernatural element of a forest monster was absent in Contente’s character – he just looked like a dirty, roughed-up human covered in leaves, McCoy said.

“The friendly forest monster was where the comedy met the horror,” McCoy said. “The fact that he was nice and wanted to sit down and play games in the tent transformed the elements of horror into something funny.”

This is where the film’s central theme manifested itself, Speare said, because things can look scary but looks can be deceiving. By balancing comedy and horror, “Camp Willowcreek” not only pokes fun at the horror genre, but also at irrational human fears – because the monster under your bed might just want to be your friend.

“We wanted to show through comedy and horror that our fear of the unknown is sometimes ridiculous,” McCoy said. “In fact, it usually is.”

Past games provide promise for 2028 Olympics, but only if LA is properly prepared

Beijing. London. Sochi. Rio de Janeiro.

$45 billion. $18 billion. $50 billion. $20 billion.

The Olympics come with a lot of fanfare – and some very big price tags.

And Los Angeles might just be the next victim of the Olympics’ financial curse if it’s not careful in 2028.

The pride of hosting seems to always be swiftly followed by financial disaster. After seeing the disastrous debt following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 1976 Montreal Games, in which corruption and overspending left the cities $113 million and $1.19 billion in debt, respectively, it’s no wonder critics are paranoid about the money.

In the past, cities have used a mixture of public and private funds to finance the games, placing a burden on taxpayers to cover the costs. If the games go over budget, which they often have, the city is saddled with the debt.

The LA 2028 organizing committee, responsible for organizing the 2028 Games in the City of Angels, released a privatized budget nearing $7 billion and at least $500 million of combined state and city backing to cover overflow. And if the history of the Olympics has shown one thing, it’s that there is always an overflow.

But that doesn’t mean that there has to be. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics didn’t, becoming the first Summer Olympics since 1948 to generate a financial surplus.

The city is in for an uphill battle if it hopes to recreate its previous financial success. The LA 2028 organizing committee seems intent on following the 1984 Games’ success formula, but the city has a lot of homework to do if it wants to adapt the 35-year-old plan to the modern age. The population has only grown and the upgrades its infrastructure needs have only become more dire and expensive – the tactics of the late 20th century aren’t going to match the magnitude of a 21st-century Olympic Games.

LA avoided handing down a massive debt to taxpayers in 1984 by utilizing an entirely private budget rather than relying on tax money.

“All revenues were raised privately from ticket revenue, sponsorships, TV deals – which compelled them to live within their means,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a city council member during the 1984 Games.

The city seems to be trying to do the same thing this time around. It also plans to use existing stadiums, such as Pauley Pavilion and the Rose Bowl, to host the athletic events. UCLA and USC will be used to house athletes and the media, respectively, and existing transportation systems will be used to facilitate movement across the city.

This gives LA an advantage over other cities, such as Sochi and Tokyo, in that it can save money by not having to build an entirely new Olympic Village.

“Every financial decision has to be seen as an existential decision – every expenditure has to be absolutely necessary,” Yaroslavsky said.

However, existing infrastructure is already being stretched to capacity. The games have only grown over the years with an estimated 500,000 tourists visiting the 2016 Games.

And the city already deals with famously bad traffic from its normal population – imagine the horror show the 405 will become with hundreds of thousands of visitors. Traffic actually improved in 1984, due to better real-time traffic data and public transportation, and the city’s work with employers to shift workers’ schedules, limiting the number of cars on the roads. But so far, LA does not have a solution to these issues for the upcoming games.

The 1984 Games also featured repressive societal practices. In order to make a pretty picture, the city swept aside its poor and marginalized communities and conducted “gang sweeps,” jailing many African Americans and Latinos suspected of being in gangs without due process.

Reports of police brutality, a crime which is rarely prosecuted, spiked by 33% from 1984 to 1989, according to The Nation. The increased militant police presence from these Olympics can be linked to the 1992 LA race riots and issues with policing today.

Homelessness and social stratification have only become more visible as rents have risen alongside police violence against minority communities. If a similar crackdown is used again, we’re in for a serious humanitarian crisis accompanied by a massive public outcry.

The 1984 Games are a cautionary tale for the city and the LA 2028 organizing committee. Pushing the glaring issues from four decades ago out of view or failing to act preemptively to help the city adapt and limit expenditures is a recipe for an ugly 2028 and beyond.

Of course, it might seem like the city is simply not equipped to handle hosting the Olympics, regardless. This is a valid concern, but remember: LA seemed woefully unprepared for the 1984 Games. By operating frugally, practically and intelligently, it pulled off a miracle and ran a financial surplus. The city can do the same this time around – but only if it adequately adapts the 1984 strategy.

The 2028 Olympic Games present an opportunity for Los Angeles. If done right, the games can be a festival for the city and world. But LA 2028 must learn from the past for this to happen.

Because if it fails, Angelenos will feel the curse for years.

Global studies shuts door on students with its costly travel abroad requirement

Global studies students will graduate with the unique ability to navigate a globalized, interconnected world.

If they can dole out a few extra grand, that is.

The global studies major is a program in the UCLA International Institute, where students learn the ins and outs of globalization as it affects international business, government and education. In a degree requirement specific to the major, students must spend a month abroad during the summer in Shanghai, Paris or New York City.

What they can’t choose, however, is whether to take part in a program that demands up to $6,000 from them just to get a degree.

Clearly, it takes a lot of money to make a global citizen.

Though students can speak to advisors if they can’t afford the program, there are few scholarships and even fewer options outside of petitioning to waive the requirement entirely. Yet studying abroad is an enriching experience and it works well with the global aspect of the program.

Despite good intentions, the mandatory travel abroad requirement creates a major that is inaccessible and exclusive. The program might hope to provide students with a global experience, but it fails to cater to socioeconomically disadvantaged students and perpetuates an elitist program at the forefront of a public university that bears an economically diverse student body.

The requirement attempts to immerse students in the subject material they are studying, said Sandy Valdivieso, the academic counselor for global studies and international development studies.

“The best way to study globalization is to look at the phenomenon in these really international cities, so that the theory and the concepts could make a bit more sense to students,” Valdivieso said.

She’s right: There is no replacement for traveling abroad – and that’s just the problem. Students who can’t afford to study abroad are not given the same opportunity as those who have the money to see the world they are studying.

Scholarships for the program do exist. But there are only 10, each worth $1,000. Students can apply through the International Education Office and the level of competition changes yearly, leaving some students without any aid directly from the program.

Financial aid might cover the remaining costs but there are no guarantees, since the program is specific to the department.

“Since it’s required, I don’t think it’s really fair since you’re paying extra for the degree,” said Gena Huynh, a first-year pre-global studies student.

In mandating such a stringent requirement, the program unfairly shapes the pool of students who decide to pursue the major. Students who are apprehensive about their citizenship or documentation status may stray away from global studies, despite the department being able to waive the program requirement.

“I know a lot of my undocumented friends want to do global studies but it’s really hard for them to travel abroad,” said América Aylín Sánchez Radilla, a first-year pre-global studies student. “Due to the political factors of what is happening in the U.S., I don’t think it should (be) mandatory at the moment.”

Radilla, who is considering switching to a geography major, said the study abroad requirement has made the major financially inaccessible to her, as she is attempting to graduate early.

“Global studies makes it very difficult to graduate in three years,” Radilla said. “And being a first-generation student makes it super hard to navigate the system.”

The program has created some ways around these issues, such as waiving the requirement by allowing students to take two classes that aim to provide a similar experience to studying abroad, but in the classroom. Yet with tuition on the rise, it’s only expected that more students will opt to take these classes. Add in that enrollment is a quarterly mess, and the study abroad requirement might just be keeping people at UCLA for several quarters longer.

Valdivieso said the department regularly considers the implications of the requirement and surveys students to understand their feelings on the travel study program. But polling a group of students committed to or considering a major in global studies is not a representative sample.

If the program wants to truly address accessibility, it needs to go deeper than throwing some makeup classes at students and calling it a day. Sure, the program might not be able to provide enough students with scholarships to allow each of them to participate. But the department can adapt its approach to include more in-country opportunities to substitute study abroad and work to further integrate financial aid as it applies to the travel abroad requirement.

The study abroad mandate ironically makes the global studies major less global. Diversity is integral to a community of global citizens – they come from all walks of life, with different backgrounds, stories and economic standings.

Until the program opens its doors, students will be lost trying to navigate a financial rat race, as opposed to a new country.