In this episode of “This Week” by Daily Bruin Podcasts, learn about important campus safety updates, including recent developments in a Saxon Suites assault case and UCPD reports. Moreover, Sports correspondents cover UCLA women’s basketball making program history with their first-ever No. 1 national ranking after defeating defending champions South Carolina. The episode also features updates on UCLA football’s crosstown showdown with USC, Arts coverage from the Hammer Museum, “Glicked” release, and international news from the COP29 climate conference.

Izzy Greig: It is Friday, Nov. 29, and you’re listening to This Week by Daily Bruin Podcasts. This is the Daily Bruins weekly news podcast. Thank you for joining us for another episode. My name is Izzy Greig, and I’m a Daily Bruin podcast contributor and the host for today.

Shiv Patel: I’m Shiv Patel. I’m the campus politics editor, and I’m the News correspondent for today.

Ira Gorawara: Hi, I’m Ira. I’m the Sports editor here at the Daily Bruin, and I’m the sports correspondent today.

Reid Sperisen: My name is Reid Sperisen. I’m the music and fine arts editor and the Arts correspondent today.

Alik Artinian: My name is Alik Artinian. I’m a Podcast contributor and international correspondent today.

Greig: Now we turn to Shiv for the news stories of the week. Shiv, what happened this week?

SP: On Monday, Jeffrey Brewer pleaded no contest to sexual penetration by use of force and to burglary. ABC7 Los Angeles reported the 42 year old was arrested at Saxon Suites back in July. A press release in July from District Attorney George Gascón said Brewer broke into a suite in Saxon and sexually assaulted a student. According to ABC7, Brewer was sentenced to 10 years in prison and will pay restitution. The restitution will be determined at a later date.

Greig: Have there been any other updates from UCPD recently?

SP: Yeah. So we received some more updates from UCPD on Monday. Between Nov. 21 and Sunday, UCPD received three reports of residential burglaries at Sepulveda University Village Apartments and arrested an individual at Franz Hall for battery. Administrative Division Lt. Jeffrey Chobanian urged community members to be vigilant, report suspicious behavior and secure their residences.

Greig: Now we turn to Ira for the sports stories of the week. Ira, what happened this week?

Gorawara: This past weekend was a huge one in sports – arguably one of the biggest this quarter so far between football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s water pool, women’s soccer and so much more. There was so much going on both in and off campus. So I want to spotlight three of the biggest stories for this week. So first, women’s basketball is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. It is the very first time in program history they’re leading the country. And this came after the team – who was then ranked fifth in the country – beat South Carolina, the reigning national champions and who were ranked first at the time. UCLA beat them pretty resoundingly. It was a 77 to 62 victory at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA snapped South Carolina’s 43-game win streak and a 33-game road winning streak, which dated all the way back to December 2021. And after this win, UCLA is going to Hawaii for a three-day tournament. And so yeah, that’s from the women’s basketball side of things. Football – so our football team did lose to USC, their biggest enemies, on Saturday and the team does annual crosstown showdown, crosstown cup, whatever you want to call it. And yes, USC did get to bring the victory bell back to University Park. But despite that loss, and although it did cut the Bruins’ postseason hopes because they are no longer bowl eligible – they will win a maximum of five games this season, which is just not enough to make a cut. So with that, the team has one game left against Fresno State this Saturday, 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl. Finally, our men’s basketball team beat Southern Utah on Tuesday night by over 40 points. The final score was 88-43. It was a really big outing for this team because there was a lot of hype around them and how deep they are before the season started, and I think Tuesday’s game was really a testament to that. UCLA forced Southern Utah to 30 turnovers, which is the most the UCLA team has managed to do in 25 years since 1999. So yeah, it was definitely an all around game for them and a lot to look forward to as they begin their Big Ten play on Dec. 3 against Washington.

Greig: Now we turn to Reid for our Arts stories of the week. Reid what’s been happening this week?

RS: Last weekend, Westwood’s Hammer Museum held a screening of “Proteus: A Nineteenth Century Vision,” a documentary directed by UCLA alumnus David LeBrun. The screening was followed by a live Q&A with the director in the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater. The documentary first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 and tells the story of Ernst Haeckel, a 19th century biologist and artist who studied ocean microorganisms called radiolarians. LeBrun said during the Q&A that the film explores Haeckel’s integration of both the arts and the sciences through his study of radiolarians.

Greig: Sounds exciting, and what’s been happening in the world of Hollywood?

RS: The opening weekend of “Glicked” at the box office was successful, but did not match the numbers posted by the “Barbenheimer” craze last summer as some pundits expected. Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” brought in about $114 million in its first three days, while Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II” grossed more than $55 million. By comparison, last summer “Barbie” made $162 million and Oppenheimer made more than $82 million in their first weekend. It would appear that counter programming for “Glicked” was successful but that these Thanksgiving blockbusters might not rival the popularity of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in the long run.

Greig: Now we go to Alik for the international stories of the week.

AA: In international news, COP 29 – the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan – ended on Nov. 22. According to the agreement, the world’s top most wealthy nations agreed to deliver $300 billion in climate aid for developing countries by 2035. However, developing countries that contribute less to the climate effect have called on first world countries to deliver at least $1.3 trillion in no-strings-attached grants to help them deal with the impacts of climate change. So far, India, Nigeria, Malawi and Bolivia have rejected the outcome of COP.

Greig: And what have been some of the criticisms regarding the conference?

AA: The conference has been boycotted by many climate activists, one of them being Greta Thunberg, who criticized the UN’s decision for the conference to be held in Baku. She has accused Azerbaijan of use of fossil fuels and ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, otherwise known as Artsakh.

Greig: Thank you. Thank you for joining us today. Come back next Friday for another episode of this week.