Ask the Chancellor

Earlier this quarter, students were invited to ask
Chancellor Carnesale a question. Here are his responses. If you
have your own questions for the chancellor or want to follow up on
his responses, e-mail: [email protected].

Q: I believe in Bruin traditions and I hate to see them go.
Do you think the Midnight Yell deserves the police attention that
it has received in the recent past?

Aruni Thakur Fourth-year Art history

A: Endangering the safety of UCLA students and our Westwood
neighbors, and destroying property are not Bruin traditions.
Moreover, only a very small percentage of students participates in
these activities. Behavior that threatens the health and safety of
members of our community is unacceptable, and some is also illegal.
These activities, which are not part of a long-standing tradition,
have escalated substantially in recent years. For so long as there
is a real threat to people and property, we will have to rely upon
the police to preserve order. There are a great many Bruin
traditions for us to celebrate and uphold that pose no threat to
our students and our neighbors; Midnight Yell is not among
them.

Q: I heard the Intramural Field is going to be replaced by a
parking structure. What options are students going to have for
athletics and intramural sports in the meantime while the structure
is being built?

Marcel Hovsepian Fourth-year Communications
studies

A: The Intramural Field is not being replaced by a parking
structure; rather, the field will be improved as a result of our
constructing a parking garage under it. The parking structure will
provide 1,500 much needed parking spaces. When the project is
completed, students will have use of a brand new Intramural Field
that will be better in a number of ways. The improved field will
have better drainage, so that students can use the field much
sooner after a rain, and it will have sufficient lighting for
evening use. In addition, we will make numerous improvements to the
area, including a new pedestrian walkway north of the Intramural
Field, better traffic safety at the intersection of Sunset
Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard, and enhanced appearance of the
area. The project will begin by this fall, and is scheduled to last
for two years. As far as the options students will have for
athletics and intramural sports while the project is underway,
there will be greater access to the North Athletic Field and to
Marshall Field within Drake Stadium, both of which currently are
often restricted for recreational activities. Student activities
such as club sport practices and games, intramural sports,
recreation classes and open use will be scheduled on these fields.
There will clearly be some impact during the construction period,
but intramural sports and recreational use of the North Athletic
Field and Marshall Field will continue throughout. When the project
is completed, the benefits to students will be significant.

Q: What is your opinion of the 21 Legal Minimum Drinking Age,
which discriminates against 18- to 20-year-old adults, treats them
as children and segregates university students into two groups:
those who can legally purchase and consume alcohol, and hence have
a far greater range of entertainment options, and those who cannot,
thus significantly curtailing their entertainment options? If you
oppose the law, what, if anything, do you intend to do or say to
oppose it? If you support the law, please justify to the 18- to
20-year-olds at UCLA why you favor discriminating against them on
the basis of age.

Christopher Ivicevich UCLA Class of 1998

A: I see no advantage to taking an action that would increase
the consumption of alcohol by students. Binge drinking of alcohol
is a serious problem at universities nationally. It’s less of
a problem here than at many other universities ““ indeed, our
survey data indicate that more than one-third of UCLA
undergraduates say they do not drink at all. But we are not immune
to the problem; no university is. Binge drinking has serious
consequences, including assaults, date rape, drunk driving,
accidents and injuries, vandalism, health problems and, in some
cases, death. Although most UCLA students make responsible
decisions, I believe that the disadvantages of lowering the legal
minimum drinking age outweigh the advantages.

Q: My main concern is campus safety, especially for women.
Considering the university’s vast, unregulated wealth, why
can’t we see more 24-hour programs for evening vans, library
hours and escort services?

Pamila Tahim Fourth-year Political science

A: Campus safety is an extremely high priority for me, too. UCLA
provides a walking escort service free of charge to students,
faculty and staff every night of the year, from dusk until 1 a.m.
If you live on campus or in Westwood Village, the escort will walk
you home from any campus building. To request an escort, call (310)
794-WALK. We have experimented with offering this service past 1
a.m., but found the demand to be very, very low past that hour. In
addition to the walking escort service, we provide evening van
service, also free of charge, until midnight on Mondays through
Thursdays. UCLA police are on campus 24 hours a day. If you see any
suspicious activity on campus or do not feel safe, you can call the
campus police at (310) 825-1491. UCLA was the first campus in the
country to establish a protocol for swift and compassionate
response to sexual assault. Orientation for freshman and new
transfer students feature mandatory sessions on awareness and
prevention of sexual assault. The Center for Women and Men offers a
wide range of programs and services promoting personal safety,
including confidential counseling and workshops on self-defense,
date rape and stalking. Please see the center’s Web site for
more information: www.thecenter.ucla.edu. As for
your suggestion about extending library hours, I note that Powell
Library has a first-floor study hall and a first-floor computer lab
that are open 24 hours a day during the 8th, 9th, 10th and finals
week of each quarter. We are currently considering a proposal for
funding that would enable the libraries to stay open additional
hours on the weekends, at night, between quarters and during the
summer.

Q: Why would UCLA not grant tenure to Professor Joshua
Muldavin, whose research is published in the top academic journals
in his field, who is a recipient of the UCLA Distinguished Teaching
Award and whose overall community service to UCLA has been
applauded? Shouldn’t his case at least be reconsidered before
UCLA loses a valuable faculty member? (Research, teaching and
service are the three main criteria involved in tenure
consideration.)

Justin Fong Graduate student Policy studies

A: Because I respect the confidentiality of personnel processes,
which protect the rights of the individuals under consideration, I
will not comment on any specific case. The tenure process itself,
which is governed by the rules of the University of California, is
designed to be an informed and objective evaluation of faculty
performance and potential in teaching, scholarship and service.
Numerous individuals and groups are involved in the process, and
judgments are made only after thorough assessment of all relevant
information, including student evaluation of teaching. Great care
is taken to ensure that the process is a fair one, and that it is
insulated from ideological, political, financial and other undue
influences.

Q: Has the increased funding from private and corporate donors,
as opposed to state money, impeded the ability for UCLA and its
faculty to research and publish competing or oppositionary
views?

Leda Nelson Fifth-year International development studies
and Latin American studies

A: The entire UCLA community shares the view that academic
freedom must be maintained regardless of the sources of funding for
research, teaching or service. That is a principle on which we will
not compromise. We make every effort to ensure also that research
priorities are not determined by funding sources, and that our
focus does not shift to only those topics that the private sector
chooses to support. We must continue to give high priority to the
arts, the humanities and the social sciences, even though less
federal and industry money is available in these areas. Our
independence has not been, and will not be, for sale.