Academic Senate names new vice chair

By Lawrence Ferchaw

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

At the last meeting of the Legislative Assembly for the academic
year, members of the Academic Senate took time to reflect on the
year and honor some of their colleagues.

Also at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting in the Faculty Center,
John Edmond, a professor of biological chemistry, was named vice
chair of the senate for the 2000-01 year; he will become chair the
following year.

Current chair Donna Vredevoe began the meeting by listing some
of the issues the faculty group has worked on over the past year,
including copyright, enrollment growth and faculty welfare
issues.

Tuesday’s meeting was the last for the academic year and
the last one for Vredevoe as chair. Her term ends in September when
current Vice Chair Stephen Yeazell assumes that position.

Executive Vice Chancellor Rory Hume addressed a wide range of
issues, including the state of UCLA’s budgeting process and
accomplishments in the past year.

Among the financial issues the university has to address is the
financial performance of the medical center, which is no longer as
profitable as it used to be ““ a problem Hume said will
hopefully not affect the rest of the campus.

“The medical enterprises has needs, but we are insulating
the rest of the campus from their problems,” Hume said.

“The magnitude of the problems are beyond the
chancellor’s to address and we will not impoverish the rest
of the campus to deal with a fraction of that problem.”

The causes, Hume said, include the proliferation of managed care
groups that pay less to the hospital for services and Medicare
cutbacks that have resulted in less money from the federal
government.

“Things appear to have bottomed out,” Hume said.
“Payment rates may be getting better.”

In his discussions of the campus’s accomplishments, Hume
discussed the increased amount of research money, the ability to
attract quality undergraduates, the university’s outreach
efforts aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented students
on campus, and also the successes in fund-raising.

On his list of goals for the coming year, Hume noted that the
university wants to improve its ability to attract graduate
students by increasing the amount of financial support it can offer
them.

As part of the meeting, Hume and others announced winners of
various awards, including the Gold Shield Faculty Prize.

Utpal Banerjee, a professor of molecular, cell and developmental
biology was presented with this year’s award, which includes
a $30,000 prize for his research.

In reading the citation, Hume noted that Banerjee, whose
research focuses on how animal cells differentiate and take on
different functions, was listed as one of the 20 best teachers in
UCLA’s history.

Also recognized were recipients of the Teaching Committee
Awards, including professors Scott Chandler, Efraín Kristal,
Hector Myers, David Sklansky and Robert Watson.

Professors Harvey Herschman and Carole Pateman were also
nominated as Faculty Research Lecturers.

Juan Muñoz, a graduate student; Josephine Isabel-Jones, a
clinical professor in pediatrics; and Ronni Sanlo, director of the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center were
recognized with the Chancellor’s Fair and Open Academic
Environment Award.

Yeazell, next year’s chair and a law professor, said
issues the senate looks to tackle next year include more on the
rights of faculty to their copyrights and planning for an expected
4,000 additional students to enroll over the next 10 years.

Yeazell said he sees the Academic Senate’s role as a group
that can focus its collective thought and energy to voice their
opinions on issues that affect the campus.

“What the senate does best is to focus the energy and
deliberative power to comment on important issues,” Yeazell
said. “My role is as a facilitator.”