Briefs

Professors elected to science academy Four UCLA
professors were elected as Fellows to join the 2003 class of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. They are Computer Science
Professor Leonard Kleinrock, Economics Professor Kenneth L.
Sokoloff, Geography Professor William A. V. Clark, and Social
Psychology Professor Shelley E. Taylor. The 2003 class included 187
Fellows and 29 Foreign Honorary Members. Among those honored are
Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, journalist
Walter Cronkite, and philanthropist William H. Gates Sr., co-chair
of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The academy will formally
induct the new Fellows at the academy’s headquarters in
Cambridge, Mass. this October. Inspections of oil platforms
reduced Federal inspections of oil platforms operating off
the coast of California have been significantly cut back in the
last six months. The 23 platforms located in the Santa Barbara
Channel used to be inspected weekly, but last November the U.S.
Minerals Management Service cut back inspections to once a month.
Furthermore, unannounced inspections were reduced from once a month
to every three months. One comprehensive annual inspection for oil
platforms is required by law, plus periodic inspections without
advance notice. The cutbacks have angered local environmentalists,
who claim that many of the current projects were approved based on
the level of inspection they would be receiving. Lecture
series to be held at med school Dr. Nancy Ascher,
professor and chairwoman of the UC San Francisco Department of
Surgery will be delivering lectures in the First Annual UCLA David
Geffen School of Medicine-Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professorship.
The professorship is in celebration of the centennial anniversary
of Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. The lectures will be
held in the Center for Health Sciences at UCLA on May 27 from 5 to
6 p.m. in Room 73-105, and May 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in Room
43-105.

Briefs compiled from Daily Bruin wire reports and staff.