ReportWire

Tag: professor

  • Obstructive sleep apnea may be linked to microbleeds in the brain

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    Maybe you know you snore like a bear, but you don’t feel much urgency to look into it. Or maybe you have been told to wear a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine for sleep apnea, but it is just so cumbersome.A new study shows that it is important to take obstructive sleep apnea seriously now –– it could impact your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later.Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with a greater risk for new microbleeds in the brain, according to the study.”Cerebral microbleeds are a common finding in the aging brain,” said Dr. Jonathan Graff-Radford, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He was not involved in the research.Microbleeds increase with age, and people who have them have a slightly higher risk of future strokes and faster cognitive decline, Graff-Radford said. “Anything that increases microbleeds is relevant to brain aging,” he added.More evidence you need to treat sleep apneaObstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which a blockage of airways by weak, heavy or relaxed soft tissues disrupts breathing during sleep. The condition is different from central sleep apnea, in which the brain occasionally skips telling the body to breathe.There are a few ways to treat obstructive sleep apnea, including relying on oral devices that keep the throat open during sleep, regularly using a CPAP or similar machine, and having surgeries.The study has a strong methodology and should stress the importance of screening for sleep apnea to clinicians and treatment to patients, said Dr. Rudy Tanzi, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the research.”Don’t ignore it. Do something about it,” he said. “It’s not just the immediate risk for down the road for bleeds, but also later down the road for Alzheimer’s disease as well.”Not addressing obstructive sleep apnea is a double whammy, Tanzi said. Not getting enough good-quality sleep –– which can be hard to do when your breathing is impaired during the night –– has been associated with brain aging, but the microbleeds that could result may increase the risk for dementia down the line.The study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open Tuesday, is observational, which means that it can only establish that obstructive sleep apnea and microbleeds are associated, not that one definitively causes the other. Further studies will need to examine if treating sleep apnea can prevent microbleeds.Know the signsWhen is it time to ask your doctor about obstructive sleep apnea?Loud, frequent snoring is a good indicator, Tanzi said. If your partner notices pauses in your breathing while you sleep or gasping and choking, that’s another sign you should look into sleep apnea.Problems during the day can be a good indicator, too. Sleepiness, trouble concentrating, irritability and increased hunger are signs you may not be getting quality sleep and that it may be time to get assessed for sleep apnea.Night sweats might also be a sign of sleep apnea, as research has shown that about 30% of people with obstructive sleep apnea have reported night sweats.Waking up at least two times in the night, teeth grinding, and morning headaches might also indicate a problem.The latest study “urges (people) to take it more seriously, because the damage that can come from obstructive sleep apnea can definitely be more severe than you think,” Tanzi said.

    CNN —

    Maybe you know you snore like a bear, but you don’t feel much urgency to look into it. Or maybe you have been told to wear a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine for sleep apnea, but it is just so cumbersome.

    A new study shows that it is important to take obstructive sleep apnea seriously now –– it could impact your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later.

    Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with a greater risk for new microbleeds in the brain, according to the study.

    “Cerebral microbleeds are a common finding in the aging brain,” said Dr. Jonathan Graff-Radford, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He was not involved in the research.

    Microbleeds increase with age, and people who have them have a slightly higher risk of future strokes and faster cognitive decline, Graff-Radford said. “Anything that increases microbleeds is relevant to brain aging,” he added.

    More evidence you need to treat sleep apnea

    Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which a blockage of airways by weak, heavy or relaxed soft tissues disrupts breathing during sleep. The condition is different from central sleep apnea, in which the brain occasionally skips telling the body to breathe.

    There are a few ways to treat obstructive sleep apnea, including relying on oral devices that keep the throat open during sleep, regularly using a CPAP or similar machine, and having surgeries.

    The study has a strong methodology and should stress the importance of screening for sleep apnea to clinicians and treatment to patients, said Dr. Rudy Tanzi, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the research.

    “Don’t ignore it. Do something about it,” he said. “It’s not just the immediate risk for down the road for bleeds, but also later down the road for Alzheimer’s disease as well.”

    Not addressing obstructive sleep apnea is a double whammy, Tanzi said. Not getting enough good-quality sleep –– which can be hard to do when your breathing is impaired during the night –– has been associated with brain aging, but the microbleeds that could result may increase the risk for dementia down the line.

    The study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open Tuesday, is observational, which means that it can only establish that obstructive sleep apnea and microbleeds are associated, not that one definitively causes the other. Further studies will need to examine if treating sleep apnea can prevent microbleeds.

    Know the signs

    When is it time to ask your doctor about obstructive sleep apnea?

    Loud, frequent snoring is a good indicator, Tanzi said. If your partner notices pauses in your breathing while you sleep or gasping and choking, that’s another sign you should look into sleep apnea.

    Problems during the day can be a good indicator, too. Sleepiness, trouble concentrating, irritability and increased hunger are signs you may not be getting quality sleep and that it may be time to get assessed for sleep apnea.

    Night sweats might also be a sign of sleep apnea, as research has shown that about 30% of people with obstructive sleep apnea have reported night sweats.

    Waking up at least two times in the night, teeth grinding, and morning headaches might also indicate a problem.

    The latest study “urges (people) to take it more seriously, because the damage that can come from obstructive sleep apnea can definitely be more severe than you think,” Tanzi said.

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  • California physicist and Nobel laureate John Martinis won’t quit on quantum computers

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    A California physicist and Nobel laureate who laid the foundation for quantum computing isn’t done working.

    For the last 40 years, John Martinis has worked — mostly within California — to create the fastest computers ever built.

    “It’s kind of my professional dream to do this by the time I’m really too old to retire. I should retire now, but I’m not doing that,” the now 67-year-old said.

    Born and raised in San Pedro, Martinis said his California high school teachers influenced him to pursue his career. A physics teacher got him interested in the topic, he said, and a math teacher taught him rigor, work ethic and organization.

    “I think before then I’d just write down the solution” rather than showing his process, he joked in an interview with The Times.

    As an undergraduate senior at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, he met John Clarke, a British physicist and professor who would become his graduate advisor and Michel Devoret, a French physicist who worked with him as a postdoctoral researcher.

    John Clarke, right, a professor emeritus of physics, looks on during a celebration at UC Berkeley on Oct. 7, 2025, after he and fellow physicists Michel Devoret and John Martinis were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in physics for their work on quantum tunneling.

    (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

    “This was a fantastic experience, to be mentored by two wonderful people,” he said during a news conference Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara, where he works as a professor. “I learned so much from them that, through my whole career, I was kind of trying to re-create that spirit that we had in there.”

    Martinis was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in physics, alongside Clarke and Devoret, for his doctoral project, a series of experiments in the mid-1980s that proved quantum tunneling was possible with large objects, which became the basis for the development of quantum computers as well as much of the current research in that field.

    Both Clarke and Devoret are based in the U.S. and associated with the University of California system — Clarke as a professor emeritus at Berkeley and Devoret as a professor at UC Santa Barbara.

    “I loved Berkeley. It was great to be taught by these really amazing professors,” Martinis said, noting the university’s cutting-edge facilities that supported the experiments. “As a student, I could focus on just being a good scientist.”

    Martinis went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship in France, then returned stateside to Boulder, Colo., where he worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. government lab. In 2008 he moved back to California to work at UC Santa Barbara as a professor, and in 2014, Google hired him and Devoret to create an experimental quantum processor faster than any human supercomputer — which his team completed five years later.

    “It really was all this basic research we did for decades that enabled this to happen and enabled us to have a vision … to build this thing,” Martinis said.

    He chose UC Santa Barbara as a workplace not just because of the great location and weather, but also for its advanced facilities and community. Researchers from other disciplines — such as engineers and materials scientists who build semiconductors — are able to freely communicate and collaborate with his team.

    “Working with talented and friendly people at the university is really special,” he said. “You can actually get things done.”

    Martinis said he has enjoyed hearing back from former students who have reached out to celebrate his award. Speaking to students years after they take his classes and grasp the effect on their lives has been refreshing. His work over the years has spawned an industry that created thousands of well-paying jobs for people across the country, he said.

    He praised the UC system for its culture and collaboration with the private sector and government, but said that research and development for quantum computers in the U.S. must urgently speed up if we expect to see it in our lifetimes.

    After leaving Google in 2020, Martinis co-founded his private company, QoLab, in 2022 with a belief that advanced semiconductor chips are the path to achieving usable quantum computers. The company has begun collaborating with other startup companies and academic groups involved in semiconductor production, he said.

    “I think this collaborative model is going to be more fruitful because we really get a lot of interesting ideas,” Martinis said. “We have a lot to catch up on. But it’s a very good atmosphere to invent things.”

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    Sandra McDonald

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  • Pro-Palestinian protests grow at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara

    Pro-Palestinian protests grow at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara

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    Pro-Palestinian protests grew Thursday at California colleges and universities, including a new encampment at UCLA and demonstrations at UC Santa Barbara, a day after police in riot gear arrested 93 protesters at USC.

    Fallout over the Israel-Hamas war grew Thursday as USC announced that it would cancel its main stage commencement ceremony after more than a week of national controversy over its decision to pull a pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s speaking slot from the May event that was expected to draw 65,000 attendees.

    The university cited new safety measures, saying that the “time needed to process the large number of guests coming to campus will increase substantially.”

    Dozens of smaller graduation ceremonies and celebrations at USC will continue under a new ticket policy and security checks.

    At Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, the campus remained closed and classes shifted online, with pro-Palestinian students occupying multiple buildings since Monday night.

    And at UC Berkeley, 50 tents remained up by Sproul Hall, the historic home of the campus’ free speech movement. On their fourth day of a “Free Palestine Camp,” students called for the university to divest its endowment from weapons manufacturers tied to Israel.

    Tensions were high at USC, where the campus was rocked at the end of the semester by President Carol Folt’s decision to cancel the valedictorian’s speech and then a commencement address by film director Jon M. Chu, before calling off the main commencement altogether.

    An encampment that launched before sunrise Wednesday morning at Alumni Park grew to about 200 protesters — students, faculty and outsiders — before the late-night arrests by the LAPD. By Thursday morning, the encampment had been cleared, with campus security picking up the remaining tents and signs.

    On Thursday, the university fenced off the park — the site of the called-off commencement — to set up a brunch for 2024 graduates scheduled for Friday morning. There were no protesters and few signs of Wednesday’s unrest, besides chalk messages on nearby sidewalks in support of Palestinians.

    The campus remains closed to the public through weekend, and professors have moved classes online.

    “This is a series of poor decisions by USC, from banning the valedictorian to calling in police to arrest peaceful students,” said Luke, a USC sophomore who was arrested Wednesday night and released early Thursday morning. “I don’t know what this university thinks it’s doing, because none of it makes sense.”

    Luke did not share his last name because he said he was worried about his safety and repercussions to his enrollment at USC, where campus safety officers on Wednesday told students that they could face discipline for violating rules over camping and use of amplified sound.

    Amelia Jones, a professor at the Roski School of Art and Design who joined faculty in protesting on Wednesday, said there was a growing “lack of trust” at USC between the administration, faculty and students.

    “They just massively escalated by calling in LAPD,” she said.

    A Jewish community group condemned the USC protests, while a Muslim civil rights group condemned the arrests.

    “While students have a right to protest, they do not have the right to intimidate or threaten Jewish students,” said a statement from USC’s Hillel. “Today’s events on campus included a protest action that again employed antisemitic chants including ‘there is only one solution, intifada revolution’ and ‘long live the intifada.’ These actions reflect a disturbing and quickly escalating situation nationally and on our own campus at USC.”

    In another statement, the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations spoke out against the arrests of peaceful protesters.

    “It is deeply concerning that USC’s response to students demonstrating peacefully in solidarity with Palestine is forcible suppression of free speech and assembly,” said CAIR-LA legal director Amr Shabaik. “This mirrors a nationwide trend of colleges and universities attempting to censor pro-Palestine advocacy on campuses.”

    At UCLA, about 100 students, faculty, staff and alumni occupied the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on Thursday with more than 20 tents surrounded by wooden pallets and protest signs.

    The effort was organized by UC Divest Coalition, which was made up of several student groups.

    Outside Royce Hall, students and others stood in line to check in before entering the encampment.

    Participants said they had seen minimal police presence — mostly officers passing by in squad cars.

    Marie Salem, 28, a graduate student studying public health, said the encampment is a community of people demanding a change from UC administrators.

    “It’s about our community realizing that we no longer can go to a university that is complicit in genocide, and we no longer can go to a university that is invested in this genocide of the Gazans,” Salem said.

    George Dutton, a professor of Asian language and cultures, said he and others wanted to observe the protest to ensure that students can safely practice their 1st Amendment rights.

    Dutton said it was “deeply disturbing” to see a large police presence on campuses across America this past week as students protest the war in Gaza.

    At UC Santa Barbara, hundreds occupied the student resources building Thursday for a daylong series of workshops, art projects and other actions to express solidarity with Palestinians, call for a cease-fire and demand an end to Israel-related investments.

    A few tents were set up inside the building, but no encampment is planned, said Bisnupriya Ghosh, a professor of English and global studies and member of Academics for Justice in Palestine. She added that no police were present, and the event was proceeding peacefully.

    “It’s centered around education about Israel-Palestine, as well as antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of racism and hate,” Ghosh said.

    Times staff writers Melissa Gomez, Jenny Jarvie and Teresa Watanabe contributed to this report.

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    Angie Orellana Hernandez, Jaclyn Cosgrove, Jenna Peterson, Jaweed Kaleem

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  • Some faculty, students of Saint Rose find relief; others still search

    Some faculty, students of Saint Rose find relief; others still search

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    ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — As the final semester winds down students and faculty are working to figure out their next move, with other local colleges stepping up to help.  Friday afternoon had a big turnout at the welcoming party for the College of Saint Rose students and faculty members as they join the ranks of their new school, the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ACPHS.  

    “I have a lot of friends that went to Saint Rose, and I know the emotion that comes along with having your school shut down. So, I’m excited to give them an open welcoming to make them feel comfortable about coming here,” said Student Ambassador, Annie Motler.  

    ACPHS is one of the latest colleges to be granted approval from the education department to provide teach out programming for biology, forensic psychology, forensic science, and psychology for St. Rose students.

    “I’m glad I made the right choice,” said transfer student Karleigh Seeloff.

    What was unique about Friday’s party was the college also welcomed eight faculty members from Saint Rose, as well. While exciting for those who were there, for many at Saint Rose, the future is not so clear. “The bitter side of that is not everyone has that opportunity and I know some folks are really struggling with that, that is very challenging,” said Dr. Lillian Rodriguez-Steen.

    The end of the semester is only weeks away, and for faculty news from the board this week stating that funding will run out by June 30 and all pay and benefits for hundreds of Saint Rose employees will end was unsettling for those with nowhere to turn. Only about 45 employees will remain on to close operations through the rest of the year.

    Senior Adjunct Professor of Music, Kelly Bird, says the closure and job loss will cause her to have to reinvent herself. But like many others at the shuttered college retirement packages and severances will not be offered.  “So, for things to turn upside down like this I have a lot of other considerations. My health and my husband’s, his health. Those sorts of things,” said Bird.

    She says she has concern for what kind of jobs there might be available. “Whether or not I feel like I could even return to a full 40 an hour a week job at this point, I’m not sure what else would be available,” said Bird.

    The College of Saint Rose may have grounds for not fulfilling the year notice outlined in their faculty manual, but Liz Richards, Chair, Department of Communications, Associate Professor of Production says it was deeply unethical for them to do so.

    And yet, some administrators, she says are the highest paid, will be retained, with bonuses, to remain to shut the school down.  She says providing salary, healthcare and bonuses to high paid administrators is a slap in the face to those of us them who are not receiving the established year’s notice of termination. 

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    James De La Fuente

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  • S.F. State employee who oversaw sexual misconduct and discrimination cases alleges retaliation

    S.F. State employee who oversaw sexual misconduct and discrimination cases alleges retaliation

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    A former San Francisco State University employee who oversaw the handling of sexual misconduct and discrimination cases alleged that the campus president and an official with the state university system tried to interfere with an investigation into harassment allegations against a professor and said that the school failed to properly investigate hundreds of claims of wrongdoing.

    In a 20-page complaint filed Wednesday against the campus and the California State University system, Heather Borlase said that she was terminated last summer after she launched an investigation into multiple Muslim students’ complaints that a professor showed a drawing of the prophet Muhammad in his Islamic studies class without warning or reason.

    Borlase alleged that San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney and CSU Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Leora Freedman believed the professor’s actions were protected under academic freedom and asked Borlase to halt the investigation. But Borlase said that a probe was necessary to determine whether the professor’s actions constituted religious harassment. Visual depictions of Muhammad are considered offensive for many Muslims.

    Freedman wanted to offer time “for the parties to reach an informal resolution,” according to the complaint, and took the case from Borlase in April 2023. Roughly a week later, after the case faced public criticism by an outside advocacy group, Borlase said she was placed on administrative leave and learned months later that her job would not be reinstated. According to the complaint, she was told the decision was “in the best interest of the university.”

    The university said that “the change wasn’t made to influence the outcome of any investigation.”

    “Like all CSU campuses, S.F. State takes seriously its responsibility to provide students and employees a safe learning and working environment,” director of communications Bobby King said. “Different leadership was desired to lead work in the department, which was already happening to improve processes and outcomes.”

    Borlase claimed that she inherited more than 400 unresolved cases of harassment, misconduct and discrimination when she started in 2021 and had received pushback from university officials who “expressed concern about the exposure” when she tried to address the reports.

    According to the complaint, the university “encouraged her to only work on the most egregious cases involving current students or faculty. Ms. Borlase insisted on bringing all cases into compliance.”

    In one instance, an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against a professor found that people were dissuaded from bringing such claims forward. But Borlase said she was discouraged from taking corrective action that could put the university “in a negative light,” the complaint said.

    In another instance, an investigation found that a campus administrator had racially harassed an employee, calling them “a runaway slave.” According to the complaint, Borlase was asked to “downplay the university’s failure to act when concerns … were first raised.”

    “S.F. State’s failure to timely respond to student and staff complaints, its interference with the integrity of investigations, and scapegoating and terminating Ms. Borlase cannot be condoned,” said Katherine Smith, one of the attorneys representing Borlase.

    Borlase’s concerns coincided with CSU’s examination of its policies around Title IX — the federal ban on sex discrimination — following multiple accounts of inconsistencies over how university officials handled complaints of sexual misconduct and retaliation. On several of CSU’s 23 campuses from San Diego State University to California State University Maritime Academy, Times investigations found that students and employees lacked confidence in the Title IX process and often feared that their issues would be ignored. A Times analysis of complaints from the 2021-2022 school year found that about 3% of more than 2,600 reports of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct were formally investigated.

    “It is critical for students to know it is safe to come forward and when they do, their complaints will be fairly investigated,” said Wendy Musell, another attorney for Borlase.

    Shortly before Borlase’s dismissal last year, the Cozen O’Connor law firm shared a report with CSU’s Board of Trustees and the university community that found flaws in how CSU campuses collect data, widespread distrust by students and employees in how wrongdoing is addressed and a low number of investigations.

    A state audit found similar breakdowns. And in a push for broader accountability, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that would require the CSU system to disclose the outcome of sexual harassment cases and investigations.

    The CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the nation. It has previously said that it will make changes to its handling of complaints and is hiring additional staff to improve its investigative process.

    “Transforming culture is not easy or quick. It takes time and significant resources,” Board Chair Wenda Fong told The Times last year.

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    Colleen Shalby

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  • Professor Pizza Will Replace Roots in Old Town

    Professor Pizza Will Replace Roots in Old Town

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    The pizza game isn’t easy in Old Town, a neighborhood with a sizable number of transplants without any ties to Chicago’s pizza lore. This has allowed chains like Papa John’s and Domino’s to thrive in a town with plenty of local options.

    With its unique Quad Cities thin crusts and special chef approved-toppings, Roots Handmade Pizza, 1610 N. Wells Street, entered the neighborhood in September 2019, and months into its debut the state’s COVID restrictions quickly altered operations: “We opened at a terrible time,” Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-founder Greg Mohr says.

    Adobo Grill was the previous tenant and relocated around the corner after a 2015 fire. Longtime Chicagoans may remember the Victorian home built in 1872. Its most famous tenant was That Steak Joynt, a restaurant that opened in 1962 and closed in 1997. The second floor was supposedly home to numerous seances with folks believing the space to be haunted. The building’s history includes surviving the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

    But after four years, Roots didn’t click as much as Mohr and co-founder Scott Weiner wanted. Fifty/50 is also involved as the food and beverage provider for Second City, whose legendary comedy theater is next door. They needed to try something new, and that’s how Anthony Scardino got involved. Scardino is a veteran Chicago pizzaiolo known as Professor Pizza.

    Sometime in March, Fifty/50 will close Roots Old Town. Fans of Quad Cities Pizza will still be able to get their fix of the thin pies that Mohr grew up eating (they’re cut into strips with puffy edges and a malty crust) at Roots Printer’s Row and the original in West Town. Scardino, who since 2023 has been operating out of Tetto, a rooftop bar in West Loop, will take over. Yes, Professor Pizza is now a full-blown restaurant.

    “I think this is the most incremental pizza story in Chicago — we’re finally opening a brick and mortar,” says Scardino.

    While crews spruce up the space, Professor Pizza will launch with carryout and delivery. The plan is to open the new restaurant in late April. Mohr reiterated that while the space doesn’t need a major renovation — the space won’t be closed to the public for a long duration — Morh doesn’t want folks to feel the only difference between Roots and the new restaurant is the menu: “The goal is to make sure this place, this space, is transformed into Professor Pizza — it’s his concept, his vision.”

    Roots Old Town opened in 2019.
    Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

    Having worked for Paulie Gee’s in Logan Square and Dough Bros. in River North, Scardino is proud of his pizzas. He’s a familiar figure on the pizza festival circuit, not that 2024 will necessarily be fruitful in that aspect. He’s been more interested in finding the right situation and partners to open a restaurant. His story is similar to Henry Cai’s at 3 Little Pigs (the two are friends and worked out of the same Humboldt Park ghost kitchen). Both pop-up shops have gone through multiple locations and flirted with signing leases. Cai continues to work from Molly’s Cupcakes’ kitchen in the South Loop.

    Scardino is excited to show Chicagoans what he can do beyond pizza. He says the menu at Tetto is a “truncated version of where our passions truly lie and what we feel we can truly represent from a culinary standpoint.” They’re moving from a kitchen as big as a closet to a “dream kitchen.” The menu will be built out with pastas, sandwiches, and appetizers. Scardino isn’t ready to share details, but he’s excited. As a proud Italian American, he’s got several ideas.

    For fans of Roots, cover your eyes — the pizzeria’s famed cheese sticks aren’t making the cut. Professor Pizza wants to be a truly different experience thanks to Scardino’s curiosity and research of various pizza styles from Chicago thin, New York, Detroit, and Grandma style. Part of the fun will be working with Fifty/50’s pastry chef Chris Texiera. The two speak the same language when it comes to bread and the fermentation process. The two are open to experimenting with doughs, which can provide delicious results. Scardino has already been experimenting with dough from deep-dish titan Gino’s East, using it for a special pizza made in a cast iron pan. Having a stable location will allow Scardino to offer more collaborations.

    But back to the cheese sticks, Scardino says he has something brewing: “I have something on the menu that pays homage to them for sure,” he says.

    Profesor Pizza will continue carry out and delivery out of the West Loop until further notice, he says. They’ll also have at least one more summer season outside at Tetto. He’s still evaluating his options.

    Upstairs, Fifty/50’s rooftop bar — Utopian Tailgate — has been hibernating for the winter. The menus will remain separate. But the bigger news is a possible collaboration with Second City. Comedy fans might eventually have a chance to snag a slice of pizza before or during a show. The idea of a slice shop has been bantered about, but there’s nothing firm.

    “It makes a lot of sense to me, certainly, but our first priority is making sure the restaurant itself is doing everything it needs to be doing,” Scardino says.

    The professor describes comedy as one of his core passions. He’s spent a lot of effort in sending over pizzas to nationally touring comics when they’re in town, names like Sebastian Maniscalco, J.B. Smoove, and Kevin James. Moving close to downtown Chicago should open more opportunities to work with comic talent through Second City, down Wells Street at Zanies, or at United Center, Chicago Theater and other venues.

    Scardino says he’s grown into the nickname; it was never his goal to turn the moniker into a brand. Mohr is struck by Scardino’s genuineness.

    “This isn’t a made-up concept — this is him… it’s not an act,” Mohr says.

    Professor Pizza, 1610 N. Wells Street, takeout to debut in late March or early April; dining room to open in late April

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • CSU and faculty reach surprise tentative agreement, ending massive strike after one day

    CSU and faculty reach surprise tentative agreement, ending massive strike after one day

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    The union representing California State University faculty reached a tentative agreement with the university system late Monday, putting an end to a planned five-day strike after one day.

    “In case anyone forgot, STRIKES WORK! After months of negotiations and two strike actions, our movement for a #betterCSU has paid off!” the union announced on Instagram.

    Faculty are expected to resume teaching Tuesday and students were advised to look for messages from their instructors. The agreement, which must be ratified by union members, includes higher salary floors for the lowest-paid workers, safer workplaces and an expansion of parental leave. In an email to faculty members, union leaders said the agreement includes a 5% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2023, among other benefits.

    “I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in a statement. “The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability.”

    The unanticipated announcement came after faculty at all 23 campuses of CSU, the nation’s largest four-year university system, staged a massive walkout Monday, the first day of the term for most students.

    While faculty members marched in chilly rain throughout much of the state, students navigated a dizzying mix of instructions: Classes are canceled, classes are temporarily on Zoom, class is in session; assignments are online, assignments are scratched for a week. Official email communication with professors was cut, leaving some unsure if classes were taking place.

    Neither university administrators nor the union had an official tally of the number of shuttered classrooms. But students throughout the system said faculty did not show up to most, if not all, of their classes.

    The university said it did not cancel classes and clarified what it called “misinformation” about the status of instruction.

    “Classes are not canceled. Individual faculty members who decide to strike will cancel their own classes,” a message said Monday. “If students have not heard from their instructor that their class is canceled, they should assume that it is being held as scheduled and go to class.”

    The message said the two sides were “in communication with each other over the weekend” but did not share details.

    The strike by the California Faculty Assn., which represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, counselors, librarians and coaches, culminated months of increasing tension between the union and CSU administration. It was the latest California walkout in higher education and TK-12 school districts as faculty and other workers — many stressed or burned out after the pandemic years — have demanded higher salaries amid escalating costs of living.

    Just over a year ago, about 48,000 University of California academic workers, teaching assistants, researchers and postdoctoral scholars walked out for about five weeks, ultimately winning significant improvements in wages and working conditions. The Los Angeles Unified School District shut down for three days in March 2023, when teachers walked off the job in solidarity with school support staff, who won pay increases. A month later, L.A. teachers agreed to a contract that provides a 21% wage increase over about three years, averting a second strike.

    Union demands

    The CSU faculty union had pushed for an across-the-board, 12% wage increase for the 2023-24 academic year and wanted to raise the minimum salary for full-time faculty to $64,360 from $54,360. The union also sought improvements such as smaller class sizes, gender-inclusive restrooms and a full semester of expanded parental leave.

    The tentative agreement falls short of the full slate of demands. In addition to the retroactive pay, the agreement includes another 5% increase on July 1 that is contingent on state funding. It raises the minimum salary for faculty by $3,000, increases paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks and improves access to gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces, the email said.

    It also extends the current contract, which was slated to end in June, by one year.

    “This historic agreement was won because of members’ solidarity, collective action, bravery, and love for each other and our students,” said Antonio Gallo, an associate vice president of lecturers, in the email. “This is what People Power looks like. This deal immensely improves working conditions for faculty and strengthens learning conditions for students.”

    Scenes on campus

    The one-day strike left CSU campuses nearly empty.

    About a dozen people lingered in the Cal State L.A. student union in the morning, as faculty members in red ponchos picketed outside. The normally crowded campus Starbucks was devoid of customers.

    “Normally the line would be out the door,” said Jordyn O’Connell, a student who works as a barista.

    All of O’Connell’s classes had been canceled because of the strike. The 20-year-old psychology major supported the strike but had been looking forward to resuming classes after the winter break.

    “I’ve been really eager to get back,” she said. “I just hope that we get this figured out. I’m ready to start the semester.”

    For some students, it was not clear which classes were canceled. Moments before heading into the student center at Cal State Fullerton on Monday, Leslie Segundo, an arts major, learned that a professor who had been scheduled to teach one of her classes had moved the start date to next week because of the strike.

    Segundo hadn’t heard from all of her professors and assumed that those who had not emailed her were going to hold classes.

    “I will attend the classes that are available,” said Segundo, who commutes to campus from Orange. “As far as the teachers that are on strike, they haven’t emailed me in clear detail about it. I don’t think I’ve been assigned any readings.”

    Around lunchtime, Karen Carrillo, president of the Associated Students Inc. at Fresno State University, said there wasn’t a typical rush at the campus food court. Three of her five professors canceled classes this week, a move she supported.

    “We are still learning, even if it’s not in the classroom,” Carrillo said. “We’re learning from professors how to lead by example and how to fight for what they believe is right.”

    Michael Lee-Chang, a second-year student at Sacramento State, said the campus looked like a ghost town. A friend sent him a picture of one class in progress; the only people in the room were the student and the professor. Lee-Chang said he feels that most students support the strike.

    Cal State officials had circulated online forms, asking students to report classes that were canceled. Lee-Chang said many were reluctant to “snitch on their faculty, because it’s faculty they know and care about.” Some students were filling in the forms with spam, reporting on the status of fictional classes such as “Evil 101.”

    The rain did not keep Stevie Ruiz, a Cal State Northridge professor in the Chicana and Chicano studies department, from protesting. He said the vast majority of students stayed away from campus. Ruiz added that about half of Northridge’s student body is Latino, and many are the first in their families to attend college.

    “This is a working-class struggle. We’ve been really amazed by the outpouring of support from students. What happens to us affects them,” he said. “They care about us, and we care about them.”

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    Debbie Truong, Gabriel San Román, Howard Blume

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