Communitybriefs

Tuesday, October 6, 1998

Communitybriefs

Traffic signal turned off for safety

The newly installed traffic signal at the corner of Strathmore
and Westwood Boulevard, which was scheduled to be operational Aug.
31, is still flashing red.

After a test period where transportation officials observed cars
near the intersection, they found that cars traveling east on
Strathmore ignored the stop sign 50 feet before the traffic signal,
focusing only on the light ahead.

The signal has been tested and is fully functional, but was
turned to a flashing red signal to protect pedestrians using the
crosswalk at the stop sign, according to Stephen Rand, manager of
traffic enforcement and adjudication at UCLA.

To make the stop signs more visible, Rand ordered flashing red
lights to be placed on top of the stop signs to alert drivers to
stop. The lights should be in place in about two weeks.

"My desire is as quick as possible to get (the traffic signal)
to regular functioning," Rand said.

The crosswalk is necessary to provide access to Lot 8 and
Transportation Services offices while the Westwood Plaza Office
Building is under construction.

Once the red lights are installed, transportation officials will
observe drivers at the stop sign and traffic light to ensure
safety.

UC program achieves high transfer rate

A University of California preparatory program at state
community colleges has produced 90 percent of transfers from 11
community colleges to four-year institutions.

The program, Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement
California Community College Program (MESA CCCP) produced 544 of
the 613 underrepresented students transferring into science,
engineering or math programs at four-year colleges.

In 1992-93, MESA CCCP’s transfers to UC comprised 11 percent of
all UC transfers of underrepresented students from the 11 campuses
participating in the program. By 1996-97, that number had risen to
35 percent.

"These numbers reveal the need for programs like MESA to expand
into more of California’s 108 community colleges," said MESA
Executive Director Michael Aldaco.

"Our country is facing a critical shortage of math, engineering
and science-based professionals," he continued. "We believe that
community college students represent a vast pool of largely
untapped talent who can meet this need if they receive the proper
assistance."

Students plan ballot initiative

Students across the state of California are launching a
state-wide petition drive to put an initiative on the year 2000
ballot, which would allow for consideration of racial and ethnic
background in the state’s institutions of higher education.

Students from community colleges, California State Universities,
and the Universities of California are collaborating their
resources in order to provide the organizational framework for this
broad-based coalition.

"Students have a moral obligation not to allow diversity to die
silently in the night," said UC Berkeley Undergraduate President
Irami Osei-Frimpong.

The initiative, called the California Associated Students
Education (CASE) Initiative, would allow public colleges in
California to consider gender, race, and ethnicity in making
admissions decisions. The initiative resembles the Equal
Educational Opportunity Initiative, which was also spearheaded by
California students last year, and which fell short of the required
votes to get on this year’s ballot.

Joint press conferences will be held Wednesday, October 7, on
the Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside campuses.

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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board