Community Briefs

Thursday, December 10, 1998

Community Briefs

State won't pay

for holiday cheer

In a memo to department heads and directors, Susan Abeles, assistant vice chancellor of finance, reminded departments that state and federal funds should not be used for holiday parties or employee gifts.

Departments are allowed to use university funds for parties, but these must be unrestricted funds and departments are encouraged to question the necessity of such parties.

"As with all university entertainment events, departments are to evaluate the importance of the event in terms of the costs that will be incurred and the benefits to be derived from it," Abeles' memo said.

The memo also stated that university funds cannot be used to buy gifts for employees or suppliers. Employees are also discouraged from accepting gifts from suppliers to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"Gifts in the form of edible goods or promotional items may be accepted on behalf of a campus department from an existing supplier," Abeles said.

These gifts become property of the university to be consumed on campus, Abeles added.

Toledo shaken up,

OK after car accident

UCLA head football coach Bob Toledo and offensive line coach Mark Weber were involved in a minor car accident Tuesday afternoon. Neither went to the hospital, although according to his self-diagnosis, Toledo suffered a mild shoulder separation.

The accident, in Norcross, Ga., occurred when the rental car that Weber was driving was broadsided by another motorist.

"All I remember is that we were spinning around and around, everything in slow motion," Toledo said. "We're just lucky to be alive. It puts that Miami game in perspective."

Toledo and Weber had been on a recruiting trip, and decided despite the accident to remain on the East coast and finish their recruitment visits. According to Marc Dellins, of UCLA sports information, the two felt it would be detrimental to the program if they missed out on recruits because of the accident.

Students to attend court over protest

Seven of the students involved in last spring's Royce Hall protests will be in court Friday to have their cases heard.

Most of the 88 students arrested on May 20 were not required to go to court, and were given infractions.

The protest was part of a coordinated effort on the part of many student groups on campus. The "Days of Defiance" protests began when Chancellor Albert Carnesale was inaugurated on May 19, and culminated in the protest the following day, when students took over Royce Hall, occupying the building until they were ousted by LAPD officers.

UC receives money

for humanities research

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a $300,000 challenge grant to the University of California Humanities Research Institute (HRI).

The grant requires that $900,000 be raised by the Institute during the next five years. The funds will be used to establish an endowment of $1.2 million for HRI. The institute, based at UC Irvine, is a unit of the UC Office of the President and serves the nine-campus University of California system.

As the humanities center for the University of California system, the institute promotes interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and fosters intellectual community across campus and international borders. "There is a compelling need for different fields of knowledge to inform one another as fully as possible," said institute director Patricia O'Brien.

Compiled from Daily Bruin wire reports

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