Daily Bruin – Page 85

1,000 firearms seized from Holmby Hills mansion, man arrested and released on bail

Los Angeles police seized over 1,000 firearms at a Holmby Hills mansion less than a mile from campus Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided the home Wednesday morning after receiving an anonymous tip about an individual illegally manufacturing and selling firearms, according to CBS. The property is located at 111 North Beverly Glen Boulevard.

Police arrested Girard Damien Saenz, 57, under suspicion of unlawful transport and sale of assault weapons, according to the LA Times. Saenz was the only person at the residence during the raid and the only person taken into custody. The weapons stored in the house ranged from modern assault rifles and handguns to Civil War collectibles, according to ABC7.

An LAPD spokesperson said while this incident was isolated and poses no threat to the UCLA community, students are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to the authorities as LAPD and ATF continue a joint investigation into the incident.

Although Saenz’s name appeared in the property records of the home, the property actually belongs to Cynthia Beck, a former partner of Gordon Getty, a billionaire and member of the Getty family, according to the LA Times.

Beck and Saenz co-own several properties in Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to Variety. Saenz possesses a contractor’s license under the name Gerry Saenz & Associates. However, any further connection between Beck and Saenz has not been determined.

Saenz was released from custody on $50,000 bail Thursday morning.

North Westwood Neighborhood Council: May 8

The North Westwood Neighborhood Council is the official neighborhood council representing Westwood Village and UCLA to LA City Council. Council meetings are open to the public and held monthly. A new council board will be elected Thursday. Voting will take place at the UCLA John Wooden Center from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the UCLA John Wooden Center.

Reports:

Michael Skiles, president of the council, said the city cancelled plans to create homeless bridge housing at the Chabad of Westwood due to difficulty working with city regulations and contractual obligations and expectations.

Motions:

The council motioned to allocate $4,000 toward two projects to be undertaken by the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. The Corps will clean and plant geraniums on the sidewalks of Westwood Boulevard between Ohio Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard using the funds.
The council motioned to approve $1,015 in event and outreach expenses for Next Friday, an event that was set to take place April 12 at Broxton Brewery. The event never took place, but expenses for promotional materials as well as permitting from the city still needed to be paid.
The council reviewed neighborhood purpose grant proposals from five community organizations. Neighborhood purpose grants can be requested by any stakeholder group within the boundaries of the council’s jurisdiction if intended to benefit the community.
The council motioned to allocate a neighborhood purpose grant of $1,500 to Associated Students UCLA to fund Places for the People. The event seeks to strengthen the relationship between UCLA and Westwood Village by providing students with a space to congregate and interact.

The council motioned to allocate a neighborhood purpose grant of $4,998.75 to the Westwood Village Improvement Association to fund outreach for homeless people. The grant will provide resources to homeless people in the Village, such as hygiene kits, snack packs and first aid kits.
The council motioned to allocate a neighborhood purpose grant of $5,000 to the Community Programs Office Food Closet. The CPO Food Closet, located in the Student Activities Center, offers free food to UCLA students in need.
The council motioned to allocate a neighborhood purpose grant of $3,800 to WestCal Academy to host an event at UCLA that aims to connect students and other members of the program with industry professionals. The organization originally requested $4,991.50. WestCal Academy is an education organization that aids students in identifying their career paths.
The council motioned to allocate a neighborhood purpose grant of $5,000 to Kaleidoscope to hire musicians and hold a free concert in Westwood. Kaleidoscope is a conductorless chamber orchestra that seeks to offer concert experiences that connect diverse communities.

TFT school meets to discuss details of Denove case, UCLA response

Theater, Film and Television school members informally addressed child sexual abuse charges against one of the department’s professors at a meeting Thursday.

Thomas Fairleigh Denove, a professor emeritus in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, pleaded no contest to charges of child sexual abuse in November. At the time of the preliminary story’s publication May 2, the registrar indicated Denove taught a course in fall 2018 and would be teaching a class for the summer 2019 A session. He was also still listed in the TFT faculty page and UCLA campus directory.

Since then, his classes have been removed from the registrar and his faculty page was taken down. UCLA spokesperson Tod Tamberg said in an email statement Denove retired in December and that the registrar had erroneously listed Denove as an instructor for the summer.

Tamberg added the university could not disclose details about Denove’s departure before or during fall quarter due to privacy policies regarding emergency leave.

A community member within TFT, who requested to remain anonymous due to concerns of retaliation, said in an email statement he has not received any formal information from the department since the news about the charges broke.

“The news spread pretty quickly amongst the TFT community, and at this stage most if not all of the graduate students (both current and long-graduated alumni) have heard,” they said. “But it’s just informal discussions, with no new information surfacing.”

Denove was charged with three counts of repeated sexual assault of children under 14 years old.

Sandy Hall-Robertson, the TFT assistant dean of communications, said there was no meeting scheduled for Thursday in response to a request from the Daily Bruin to send a reporter to the meeting.

The community member said the meeting did occur, but that the department did not provide specific information about ongoing investigations at the meeting and did not formally address the charges.

They said students expressed shock and condemnation about the charges against Denove, while faculty members expressed disgust and disappointment.

“A lot of us interacted heavily with Denove as part of our work and while he had a reputation for encouraging certain students to bend the rules, he was largely respected,” they said.

Sherod Thaxton, a criminal law professor, said in an email statement Denove’s no contest plea means he will receive the same punishment as a guilty plea, even though he has not accepted or denied responsibility for the charges.

They said a no contest plea implies there would be enough evidence to convict if the case were to go to trial. Denove faces up to 40 years in prison.

A defendant may choose to plead no contest to avoid the publicity of a trial and prevent certain facts about the case from being revealed to the public or improve the odds of a more lenient sentence, Thaxton added.

Until 2015, California law stated registered sex offenders were not allowed to reside within 2,000 feet of schools, parks or other places where children congregate. Following a 2015 California Supreme Court case, court officers must decide on how close offenders are allowed to be to such locations on a case-by-case basis.

The UCLA Lab School, which enrolls roughly 450 children under the age of 12, is located on campus roughly 2,000 feet from TFT’s offices in MacGowan Hall. Denove’s mandatory distance from locations where children congregate is unknown at this time.

The Lab School did not respond to a request for comment.

Jerry Kang, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, said in an email statement UCLA conducts background checks on most staff members but not faculty hires. Kang added there is also no systematic way to gather information on students or faculty because they are not required to undergo background checks with fingerprinting.

In contrast, UC Davis and UC Riverside run background checks on some faculty hires in addition to all staff. Kang said UCLA is looking to institute a similar policy.

“UCLA is in the process of considering the wisdom of requiring background checks for faculty,” Kang said.

Movie review: “Pokémon Detective Pickachu” transports audiences into nostalgia-filled world

The 8-bit blips of black-and-white sprites in Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue could not compare to the epic battles the players conjured in their minds.

More than 20 years later, those same players can finally watch Pikachu fight Mewtwo on the big screen.

Following Red’s and Blue’s popularity, the Pokémon franchise blossomed into a media giant with the release of a long-running anime, trading card game and manga series.

Seven more generations of video games followed the original, with an eighth on the way this year. Waning interest in the franchise was arguably revitalized by the worldwide phenomenon that was the Pokémon Go mobile app in 2016. In a culmination of the immense popularity, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is the franchise’s first attempt at a live-action motion picture.

Featuring a civilization in which humans and Pokémon live side by side, the film follows Tim Goodman’s (Justice Smith) investigation into his missing detective father with the help of an adorable talking Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds).

Like the Pokémon games themselves, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” targets a younger audience while simultaneously drawing in adults through its unabashed nostalgic appeal. And, like the Pokémon games before it, the film absolutely succeeds in doing both.

The overall storyline is largely predictable, but seems perfect for younger viewers, as it follows a simplistic mystery with plenty of action – and some of the minor twists were admittedly surprising. Children are unlikely to care about the plot holes and will likely be mesmerized by the cool and cuddly Pokémon. Pikachu, in particular, is cuter than in any previous appearance.

It’s a bit difficult to get used to famously R-rated actor Reynolds’ unmistakable voice emerging from a family-friendly fuzzball. Pikachu makes his share of adult jokes, causing a bit of a disconnect with his irresistibly fluffy exterior. But Reynolds’ delivery is strong, providing an emotional range for his animated character.

There are no gym badges involved, but the plot captures the franchise’s adventurous spirit. Like in every Pokémon game, underqualified kids travel to bustling new cities and end up sneaking around a high-tech facility to single-handedly take down a shadowy, nefarious organization. And while the story can seem a little inconsistent if you think too hard about it, the movie as a whole instills a sense of wonder and adventure in the viewer that stands out regardless of the details.

Longtime Pokémon fans will likely have a field day identifying every monster that scampers, flits or trots across the background. I counted approximately 50 unique Pokémon species in the film from across seven generations of video games. This is actually only a small portion of the 809 Pokémon in the games, and the limited roster starts to show once you see the fourth or fifth Audino, Treecko or Sneasel trotting around. However, the level of detail put into the fur, feathers and scales – not to mention flaming tails – on the featured Pokémon more than makes up for a lack of variety.

And far more than 50 Pokémon appear if you count images on signs, posters and other scenery. The main city setting is a rich tapestry of Pokémon-themed restaurants, businesses and architecture. With an astounding number of Easter eggs and references packed into just about every scene, the care and effort that the filmmakers poured into the movie seems tangible.

To be fair, the quality of many aspects of “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is comparable to the average kids’ movie. Did any actor provide an Oscar-worthy performance? No. Did every action scene feel necessary? No. Was any of the writing outstanding? No. But do any of those things matter while watching a herd of adorable high-definition Bulbasaurs amble across a riverbed as they make little squeaky noises? Not at all. Seeing your childhood leap to life on screen makes the film worthwhile.

As for adults who didn’t grow up with Pokémon, the experience might be unremarkable. At the very least, however, non-Pokémon fans can likely appreciate the feats of computer animation showcased in the film. From the rubber, playground ball texture of Mr. Mime’s body to the leaves on the trees of Torterra’s back, the detail on each Pokémon helps it blend in flawlessly with the real world.

“Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is clearly for young trainers everywhere, who will likely forgive the film’s flaws. But for countless older fans, it’s an hour and 44 minutes to forget about the stress of adult life and transform back into the kid who just wanted to catch ’em all.

Global music event to feature Korean percussion, reveals spread across cultures

The sound of drums that originated in South Korea can be heard around the world, said Katherine In-Young Lee.

The spread of music genres from one region to others will be explored in “Global Musics and Musical Communities,” a two-day conference and concert hosted by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The event will take place on campus Friday and Saturday. Lee, an assistant professor of ethnomusicology, organized the event to further explain the premise of her book, “Dynamic Korea and Rhythmic Form,” in which she explores the spread of samul nori, a South Korean form of percussion music.

Samul nori has traveled overseas and formed musical communities around the world, Lee said, despite certain regions having no connection to Korean culture or language. SamulNori, the quartet which originally created the genre, toured around the world in the ’90s and also taught others how to play it, using musical notations and workshops, Lee said. Since then, it has expanded into a nonprofit and is now known as SamulNori Hanullim. Lee has continued to examine the genre’s musical characteristics to explain how it has transmitted easily.

“I looked at the musical form of many of these pieces, and my argument has to do with how there is this dynamic element to the rhythmic form that is exciting for people to listen to,” she said. “When they eventually try to learn how to play this music, there is also this user-friendly aspect to it.”

Another impetus for samul nori’s spread was the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Lee said. The South Korean government gave the genre an international stage, allowing it to officially accompany the procession of the torch. When Lee worked for SamulNori Hanullim in 2003, she observed people who were avidly trying to learn how to play the style, she said. People do not need a musical background to play it because it is not difficult to learn, which helped it spread, she said.

The event will also analyze other examples of genres that have spread, and factors that have allowed for this. During the first day of the conference, there will be a performance by Red Sun/SamulNori, a jazz and percussion collaboration founded in 1987. The event will also feature a series of speakers who have studied different genres that have traveled globally. One such speaker is UC Davis ethnomusicology professor Henry Spiller, who studies gamelan, a form of Indonesian percussion music. He will talk about its influence in the United States. Spiller said he believes it is important to be sensitive to the meaning and context of the music’s origin.

“It’s a way of fostering some kind of cross-cultural understanding, but also to be cautious and critical of what kinds of statements you make when you appropriate music that comes from somebody or somewhere else,” Spiller said. “There are issues of power that need to be carefully navigated.”

The goal of the conference is to discuss the fact that these genres are still enjoyable for those who are not very familiar with the culture. But this must be examined through a critical lens, Spiller said. There are certain cultural values that are transmitted in the music and it is important to not diminish those, he said.

Director of the UCLA Center for Musical Humanities Raymond Knapp said the event will also view the transformation of music’s meaning as it spreads and combines with other genres. For example, jazz has become a worldwide genre that still has variations in different regions. This will be demonstrated through the concert, which combines samul nori and jazz. This weekend’s concert will host Red Sun/SamulNori as it performs for the first time in the United States.

Through this event, Knapp said he hopes the center will continue to be a vehicle for collaboration and bring together local musicians, students and faculty.

As a result of musical collaboration, new sounds, rhythms and textures are created, Lee said.

“Certain musical genres can travel across these national boundaries where you can have interesting encounters and it can lead to new collaborations,” Lee said. “I hope people learn about the power of music to create communities.”

Q&A: Composer discusses collaboration, creative process of upcoming three-part concert

Nico Muhly’s performance piece may be in three parts, but it is not fractured.

The composer has created works that include classical pieces and film soundtracks, and will deliver a three-part performance, “Archives, Friends, Patterns,” at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on Friday. The first part of the concert, hosted by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, contains two-piano transcriptions of Indonesian gamelan music created with composer Thomas Bartlett. The second is a rearrangement of works from composer Philip Glass’ catalog, while the third contains Muhly’s drone-based compositions.

The Daily Bruin’s Cameron Vernali spoke with Muhly about his pathway into music, discussing the differences between creating music for friends and for strangers.

Daily Bruin: How did you get interested in music?

Nico Mulhy: When I was a kid, I played piano and … I was also singing in a boys’ choir. This is all in Providence, Rhode Island. Something happened when … I realized that these two different forms of music-making were private and publicly team-based. I just latched onto them both and I started taking both a lot more seriously and thinking, “What would it be like (if) instead of interpreting something, I actually started to play around?” That’s how I got started.

DB: Your catalog ranges from film soundtracks to classical compositions. When you decided you wanted to go into music, were you open to many forms or did you have one in mind?

NM: The fact that I collaborate a lot and the fact that I do many different things, to me, doesn’t feel unnatural. It feels like a natural extension of how I make music. I make music with my friends, the people I’m around. I never treat it as two different universes of music-making.

What it is, though, is that everyone has their origin story. You’re always from somewhere. At a certain point, you realize that … you can go wherever you want. I’m from the notated music tradition, I write for large and small classical organizations, but also … my friends make music that isn’t necessarily classical. There’s a lot of possibilities.

DB: “Archives, Friends, Patterns” is in three parts. Is this a new format for you?

NM: I’ve never played a concert this long and it’s a strange feeling to pack so much into an evening. … In this particular case, (it’s) the collaboration between me and the larger curators. Not all the music is by me. One set is completely by Philip Glass, one set co-written by Thomas Bartlett and me, one little set by me. That (collection), to me, is a very good portrait of not only me but my community, which felt to me the spirit that this evening is made in.

DB: What is it about Glass and Bartlett that you find encapsulating of your community?

NM: I worked for (Glass) for a long time from 1999 to 2006 or 2007. (Glass) and (Glass’) music are a really important part of my DNA. It’s just something that comes built into being a musician for me. What cool’s about (Glass’) music in this is that he wrote a lot of music for his own ensemble, (that) was (made up of) his friends. It wasn’t music for strangers at all. It was for six or seven other people in a communal fashion. What I’ve done is rearranged that music for my friends, so it’s a nod to the spirit of how he makes music.

With (Bartlett), it’s the most tightly bundled set of things. It’s music that we co-wrote, so it’s unclear where one thing begins and one thing ends. It’s music that is based on a historical piece of music, which itself is based on transcriptions of gamelan, and built into all that is the history of that piece and the history of my collaboration with (Bartlett).

DB: Is there a difference in participating in pieces that were created for strangers versus pieces that were created for friends?

NM: It’s very strange. Composers feel an emotion that is unique in the world – when you are sitting in an audience, watching people do this thing that you’ve written down on a page. It’s an out-of-body experience (of composing) something that once existed only in your head and once existed as a piece of paper and once existed as a sketch. Suddenly, there are all these people realizing it. It’s particularly strange for an opera – it’s like 200 people reacting to this thing you made. Whereas making music in a more communal setting, it’s really fun because it feels less formal than a concert in which I have less control. So weirdly, having more control gives it an air of informality that I think is really fun. I hope (that “Archives, Friends, Patterns”) feels like being invited to a dinner party and you know some of the people there and you don’t know some people and you just have the best time.

Op-ed: UCLA, LA health officials effectively collaborated to prevent spread of measles

The Daily Bruin’s recent editorial criticizing the university’s response to a measles outbreak not only mischaracterized UCLA’s actions, but did not include all of the facts. This was a complex operation that involved an array of UCLA departments and units, as well as Los Angeles County public health officials.

We feel it is important to set the record straight.

Immediately after being notified by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on April 22 that one of our students had contracted measles and had attended classes at Franz Hall and Boelter Hall, the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center worked with the registrar’s office to produce a list of students, faculty and staff who may have been exposed.

Approximately 850 students were quickly contacted via secure message. Using immunization records on file at the Ashe Center, all but around 124 were cleared. These actions took place before LAC DPH issued its quarantine order.

Following the quarantine notification from the county health department, those individuals not cleared were contacted by the Ashe Center, the Office of the Dean of Students or LAC DPH so they could show proof of immunization, be tested for measles immunity or be subject to quarantine until the conclusion of the incubation period. In addition, seven faculty members were contacted and cleared by UCLA’s Occupational Health Facilities.

Within hours of being notified of the quarantine order by LAC DPH on April 24, UCLA Housing and Residential Life departments established an isolation facility at Tom Bradley International Hall where officials from the Ashe Center established a phlebotomy laboratory to test students who were not able to produce proof of immunization. Students who were directed to or voluntarily reported to Bradley Hall had access to beds, TVs, food, games and medical staff, as well as staff from other offices, to support their needs. Before the end of the day, the chancellor issued his message to the UCLA community, informing the campus of the quarantine order.

UCLA undertook extraordinary measures to contact students subject to the quarantine, including multiple emails, phone calls and actual visits to student dorm rooms or apartments if they lived in university housing on or off campus. Additionally, staff from the Dean of Students office visited classrooms to remove students who did not respond to the university’s repeated communications. The few students who could not be reached by these efforts were located by LAC DPH investigators.

University officials worked around-the-clock with the assistance of the county health department investigators, contacting and locating students and faculty members on the quarantine list.

The swift and effective actions by the Ashe Center, working in cooperation with other UCLA departments, allowed the vast majority of potentially exposed students to quickly return to their classes and regular schedules.

In the end, only 23 students had to remain isolated for the entire six-day period of the quarantine. And despite the large number of individuals exposed, quick and effective actions by different UCLA campus departments, as well as the high percentage of immunizations among our students, contributed to containing the exposure and ensuring, as it turned out, that no one else contracted the disease.

The quarantine has now expired, but the Ashe Center’s efforts to raise awareness among our students about the importance of being immunized continue.

The Ashe Center is sending emails to about 7,500 UCLA students for whom it still does not have current documentation about their measles immunization. The center also scheduled a measles immunity fair Tuesday so students could get vaccinated or have blood drawn to show immunity to measles.

County public health officials have consistently praised the university for its close collaboration and its timely notification of individuals who might have been exposed to prevent the spread of the disease.

But as in any emergency response, there’s always room for improvement. As is customary in the aftermath of all emergency situations, UCLA will be thoroughly reviewing all its actions with an eye to where it can make enhancements, including in communications to students. But taking a critical look at what needs to be strengthened should not blind us to all that went right.

Bollard is the interim co-executive director of the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center. Blandizzi is UCLA’s dean of students.