Week five: Trash-related fire on campus, new aqua-jogging club, Oscars predictions

This Week in the News serves as The Quad’s space for reflection on current events at and around UCLA. Every week, Daily Bruin staffers will analyze some of the most significant stories to keep readers up to speed.

Week five has been taken over by more than midterms, spring break plans and housing applications. This installment of This Week in the News reviews all of the top stories in the midst of midterm season.

Westboro Baptist Church to picket at UCLA against inclusive LGBTQ+ policies

According to an email from UCLA officials, the Westboro Baptist Church is expected to picket on campus Monday outside Murphy Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

This church, known for its anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, inflammatory signs and protests at military funerals, has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group will be targeting UCLA for its inclusive LGBTQ+ policies.

An email signed by the dean for students, the UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center director, the vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, and others encouraged students not to engage with the group. Instead, officials welcomed students to participate in a pre-event community space, held Wednesday, aimed to offer support and resources to UCLA community members.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, the LGBTQ Campus Resource Center will open a post-event community space for community members to process the picket.

Trash-related fire flares up in South Campus, LAFD investigates cause

A trash fire was reported Thursday morning in South Campus at 11:29 a.m.

The fire broke out between the Biomedical Sciences Research Building and Boyer Hall. At 11:34 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched a single engine to extinguish the fire.

Students and researchers inside BSRB evacuated, and there were no injuries or building damage.

Brian Humphrey, a spokesperson for the LAFD, said that the cause of the fire has not been determined. He added that the careless disposal of heated materials, such as cigarettes, often ignite trash fires.

Roads between BSRB and Boyer Hall remain closed for cleanup. As of now, community members are advised to avoid the area.

UCLA scientists develop record-setting hydrogel coating

According to a study published Jan. 29, UCLA material scientists have developed an innovative coating that hinders the formation of ice at subzero temperatures.

Used on plastic, glass, ceramics and metals, the hydrogel coating prevents ice from forming at temperatures as low as -31 degrees Celsius, or -23.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The cutting-edge coating also set a record for the duration for which it prevents the formation of ice at subzero temperatures.

In creating the coating, material scientists drew inspiration from biological processes that halt the blood of some Antarctic fish from freezing. The record-breaking coating is mostly composed of the polymer polydimethylsiloxane and water.

There are three ways the hydrogel coating prevents ice formation: first by reducing the temperature at which ice freezes, second by decelerating the growth of ice crystals, and lastly by making it difficult for ice to adhere to the surface.

The hydrogel coating is said to have a wide range of applications, such as in aviation, according to the study published in the scientific journal Matter.

Aqua-jogging club dives into injury rehab, makes strides for inclusive exercise

Three weeks ago, second-year pre-communication student Kelsey Dempsey founded Aqua Jog at UCLA, an inclusive exercise club.

Aqua-jogging consists of treading water in a running motion. The exercise is typically used for rehabilitation purposes.

Dempsey began aqua-jogging after having sustained two injuries: one in high school cross country and a second during Dance Marathon in college.

However, students are not only joining Aqua Jog for rehabilitation purposes but also for an inclusive and innovative exercise environment.

“What I really want from this club is just to make others feel included and make people feel that they have a place in UCLA,” Dempsey said in the article.

Aqua Jog meets on the lower pool deck of Sunset Canyon Recreation Center on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m.

The 92nd Academy Awards: To New Beginnings

With the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday approaching, Daily Bruin staffers discuss their predictions for the upcoming award show, review this year’s critically acclaimed movies and go behind the scenes of the Oscars voting processes.

The package features a poll in which viewers can make their own Oscar predictions. Daily Bruin Assistant Video Producer Samuel In ventured to Bruin Walk to discuss Oscar nominees with students.

Staff writers review this year’s most talked-about movies, from “Joker” to “Little Women” and “Jojo Rabbit.”

Diversity is a large theme in the 2020 award season, with Olivia Mazzucato discussing the lack of diversity present in the 2020 Golden Globes and a graphic featuring diversity on the Oscars page.