Take advantage of UCLA’s, area’s features

Welcome to UCLA!

Students like you are drawn to UCLA for many reasons. Among
them, UCLA provides the benefits of a large, leading research
university but also offers opportunities to learn in small,
personalized settings. For example, our Fiat Lux Program offers
multiple seminars in a wide range of subjects for about 15 students
at a time, with enrollment preference going to freshmen. The
seminars span a wide range of topics in the arts and humanities,
culture and society, and science and technology.

In addition, we have at our doorstep one of the world’s
pre-eminent cities, serving as a classroom or laboratory for
exploring myriad academic pursuits. The region also offers all
manner of social and cultural pursuits. But you need not leave
campus to enjoy many of them.

For example, UCLA Live is one of the largest performing arts
programs in the nation, bringing both well-known and promising
performers to campus. In addition, the 2004-05 academic year has
been designated as the UCLA Year of the Arts in celebration of
UCLA’s position as a national center for artistic research,
public-arts presentation and the training of young artists,
scholars and teachers. UCLA will present a series of
interdisciplinary events in the visual and performing arts,
including exhibitions, concerts and symposia organized by arts
leaders.

Also known for their exceptional quality are UCLA’s
athletics teams, which have earned more NCAA team championships
““ 94 in all ““ than those at any other university. And a
total of 56 current and former Bruin athletes and coaches
participated in the Olympic Games last month in Athens, Greece,
earning 19 medals.

But providing these opportunities for you requires a lot of work
and planning.

As you likely know, UCLA and the rest of the higher education
system in California are under considerable financial strain.

The final version of the 2004-05 state budget approved by the
Legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reduces
funding significantly for the third-consecutive year.

UCLA is absorbing $33.5 million in permanent funding reductions,
and we have another $13.1 million in unmet needs, bringing the
total shortfall in state resources for our campus to $46.6
million.

These financial challenges, though, did not come as a surprise.
For the past several years, we have worked diligently to preserve
UCLA’s academic core while adjusting to new financial
realities.

Guiding our decisions has been our commitment to strengthening
UCLA’s foundations, building on our comparative advantages,
and focusing resources on what UCLA does best.

Our success can be measured in part by the national and
international recognition UCLA continues to receive for
achievements in faculty scholarship, undergraduate education,
multicultural programs, academic medicine and private fundraising,
among other programs.

Moreover, UCLA continues to rank among the universities
receiving the most applications for freshman admission.

All of us at UCLA are working diligently to preserve and enhance
the full range of educational opportunities available to
students.

But it is up to each of you to capitalize on these
opportunities.

A college education is more than the courses you take and the
exams you pass. To make the most of your experience at UCLA, I
encourage you to do these things:

“¢bull; Explore a variety of subjects and be intellectually
aggressive. Take courses because the subject matter interests you,
not just because they satisfy a graduation requirement.

“¢bull; Develop relationships with faculty and graduate
students. Take advantage of office hours. Most professors and the
graduate students who assist them with teaching responsibilities
respond well to those who take initiative.

“¢bull; Participate in research. Be sure your experience
includes the discovery process, such as the Student Research
Program available to undergraduates.

“¢bull; Get involved. Approximately one-third of our students,
together with faculty, staff and alumni, volunteer their time and
talents to make surrounding communities better and improve the
lives of those less fortunate. Join a club, participate in student
government, and explore your interest in the arts.

If you take advantage of what UCLA and the Greater Los Angeles
community have to offer you, you will open many doors of discovery
and achievement.

Again, welcome to the UCLA family.

Carnesale is the chancellor of UCLA.