Mantle Hood, founder of the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, died on July 31 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 87. In addition to founding the ethnomusicology program at UCLA, Hood also pioneered an idea he termed “bi-musicality,” meaning that ethnomusicologists should learn to play the music of the cultures they study. Read more...

A recent spurt of robberies occurring near UCLA’s campus have university police and detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department working together to find two suspects. Read more...

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a sweeping series of nominations to city advisory panels last week, tapping a diverse group of the city’s most accomplished community leaders including a UCLA pediatrics professor and a high-ranking member of the university’s labor center. Read more...

The drama and frustration of slate politics have already taken hold of undergraduate student government, impeding progress after only its first meeting of the academic year. Read more...

“¢bull; In the editorial “Mascot clean-up a good move by NCAA” (Viewpoint, Aug. 8), San Diego State University discontinued its “Aztec ambassador” mascot. In 2004, SDSU introduced the “Aztec warrior” as its mascot, which is currently in use. Read more...

Cindy Sheehan was catapulted into the national limelight in recent weeks when she planted herself in front of President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, to demand an answer as to why her son was killed in Iraq. Read more...