Wednesday, November 12, 1997
Community Briefs
At Berkeley, scholar found dead in room
BERKELEY — A UC Berkeley visiting scholar from Italy was found
dead Sunday morning in her room at the International House.
The student, whose body was found by staff members and UC Police
Department officers, had apparently committed suicide only several
days after moving into the International House.
The woman, Sandra Cavichioli, was a 38-year-old Italian visiting
scholar and a communications major.
She had just moved into Room 617 at the International House last
Wednesday, said Joseph Lurie, secretary of the house, in an
informational meeting held for concerned residents following the
death.
The International House had allowed Cavichioli to live there
upon the request of retired UC Berkeley Professor Seymour Chatman,
who taught narrative structure, film and semiotics.
Chatman would not comment on the student’s death.
Gold Shield Faculty nominations sought
UCLA faculty members may nominate a UCLA colleague for a $30,000
award for outstanding teaching, research or public service. The
$30,000 award itself is the largest given exclusively for UCLA
faculty. Any UCLA faculty member may nominate a colleague but
self-nominations are prohibited.
The awardee is selected every two years by a committee of peers
appointed by the Academic Senate. Nomination forms are currently
being distributed to all faulty members. The deadline is Jan. 31,
1998.
Past recipients include Michael Jung, professor of chemistry;
Patricia Greenfield, professor of psychology; Jeffrey Alexander,
professor of sociology and Albert Braunmuller, professor of
English. The most recent recipient of the award was Peter Narins, a
professor of physiological sciences.
Material should be sent to Gold Shield Faculty Prize, Academic
Senate office, 3126 Murphy Hall, attention Margaret Avila.
Prop. 187 film to be screened in class
The acclaimed film "Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary," a
documentary on the impact of the Proposition 187 campaign on Los
Angeles elementary schools, will be screened tonight on campus.
The film will be shown in a course called "Urban Exiles," at 7
p.m. The director will be on hand to discuss the making of the
film. The class is taught by Max Benevides.
The film, recently shown at the Museum of Tolerance, chronicles
the effects of Proposition 187.
Since its passage by California voters in 1994, Proposition 187
has been tied up in courts, but effects of the initiative had
already surfaced during the making of this documentary.
Proposition 187, which would deny schooling and social benefits
to illegal immigrants, has special relevance to the schools of the
Los Angeles Unified School District, which have an unknown number
of immigrant children.
The documentary shows children expressing fear of their
teachers, and teachers responding by assuring their pupils that "we
will not become (Immigration and Naturalization Service)
agents."
Proposition 187 also ignited a controversy among the teachers at
Hoover Elementary, who found themselves politically split on the
initiative. The documentary included their testimony and commentary
as a part of its coverage.
For information on the screening, see the "What’s Brewin’" box
below.
Compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports.