Monday, February 22, 1999
Community Briefs
U.S. students work
to improve reading
The reading scores of American students have increased for the
first time this decade, according to a Feb. 10 report released by
the National Department of Education.
The significance of the performance of the 31,000 fourth-,
eighth- and 12th-grade students who took the 1998 National
Assessment of Education Progress lies in the ability of the survey
to accurately reflect the state of education in America, according
to Jamal Abedi, director of technical projects at the National
Center for Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA.
"The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the nation’s
report card," Abedi said. "It’s a picture of the nation’s progress
in general."
Despite the overall improvement of American student’s reading
scores, the Department of Education maintains that most, especially
the minorities and impoverished, are still reading below "basic"
levels.
It is this problem which UCLA literacy advocacy groups are
attempting to address in their efforts to tutor inner-city children
and increase their reading skills.
"Most kids can read, but they don’t understand what they’re
reading because of their low comprehension skills," Mike Fong, a
fifth-year pyschobiology student, and tutor for the Asian American
Tutorial project, said.
"The children of immigrants are especially affected because
they’re placed in classes where the teacher doesn’t speak their
native language and their parents are of no help."
USAC budget review director resigns
Johnny Nguyen, the undergraduate student government’s budget
review director, has submitted his resignation to the Undergraduate
Students Association Council (USAC), citing academic pressures.
Nguyen’s primary responsibilities were overseeing USAC’s budget
process during the summer and allocating money to student groups
from the Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors Interaction
Fund and USAC Programming Fund.
Nguyen’s likely replacement will be a current member of the
budget review committee.
UCLA doctor awarded for radiation research
Dr. Kuo-Nan Liou was elected Friday to the National Academy of
Engineering.
Liou was awarded for his contributions to the theory of
radiation transfer and light scattering with applications to
climate modeling and remote sensing technology.
Liou received his master’s and doctorate degree from New York
University and has been a professor at UCLA since 1997.
Chancellor discusses affirmative action
Chancellor Albert Carnesale gave his most explicit description
of his own position on affirmative action at a Student Media press
conference on Friday.
Carnesale had previously refused to be nailed down on the issue,
saying only that he felt that Proposition 209, the California state
ballot initiative that banned the use of race or gender in
university admissions, was detrimental to the university.
"If you asked me the direct question, ‘Would I prefer to be able
to use affirmative action at UCLA,’ the answer is yes," Carnesale
said.
The chancellor had been discussing the potential repeal of
regents’ decisions SP-1 and SP-2, which in 1995 specifically
outlawed the use of affirmative action programs at the University
of California.
Compiled from Daily Bruin staff reports.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]