News Briefs

Event will look at slavery’s effects

Kicking off Black History Month, the Center for African American
Studies will host a two-day colloquium this weekend.

The event will begin tonight in Haines Hall with remarks from
Darnell Hunt, director of UCLA’s Center for African American
Studies, Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, vice-chancellor of UCLA’s
graduate division and former state Sen. Tom Hayden. Howard Winant,
a Temple University sociology professor will then give a keynote
address at 6 p.m.

Saturday, four panels, made up of professors from around the
country as well as legal and economic experts, will address
slavery, considering how slavery came to be in the United States,
its economic role in American history and its lasting affects.

Many recognize slavery only as an institution of the past, with
no affect on today’s world, when in reality “slavery
still casts a shadow on America today,” said Hunt.

The event is free of charge, but registration is required.

Athletes are role models for kids

A new UCLA School of Public Health study offers the first
scientific evidence that sports stars and other public figures
exert a positive influence in the lives of teen admirers.

The study, published in the January edition of Archives of
Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, reported that 56 percent of
nearly 750 Los Angeles County teens surveyed named role models in
their lives.

Among those, 42 percent named a parent or relative, 39 percent
named a figure known primarily through the media, and 19 percent
named a non-familial, known individual. The most popular role
models were parents (22 percent), sports figures (18 percent),
siblings (10 percent) and singers (10 percent).

Fast computers help researchers

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have
installed a new supercomputer that ranks among the 100 fastest
computers in the world.

The computer will be used for research in planetary physics and
astrophysics by scientists in the departments of Earth sciences,
physics and astronomy & astrophysics.

Research in these fields often involves computer simulations of
complex physical phenomena, such as supernova explosions, galaxy
formation, and the fluid dynamics of the interiors of stars and
planets.

UCSC researchers sometimes run their simulations on powerful
supercomputers at other institutions, such as Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory.

Briefs compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports.