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  • Trump’s unprecedented show of force in L.A., Washington is pushing norms, sparking fears

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    In downtown Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a news conference with Democratic leaders when the Border Patrol showed up nearby to conduct a showy immigration raid.

    In Washington D.C., hundreds of National Guard troops patrolled the streets, some in armored vehicles, as city officials battled with the White House over whether the federal government can take control of the local police department.

    President Trump has long demonized “blue” cities like Los Angeles, Washington and New York, frequently claiming — often contrary to the evidence — that their Democratic leaders have allowed crime and blight to worsen. Trump, for example, cited out-of-control crime as the reason for his Washington D.C. guard deployment, even though data shows crime in the city is down.

    But over the last few months, Trump’s rhetoric has given way to searing images of federal power on urban streets that are generating both headlines and increasing alarm in some circles.

    While past presidents have occasionally used the Insurrection Act to deploy the military in response to clear, acute crises, the way Trump has deployed troops in Democratic-run cities is unprecedented in American politics. Trump has claimed broader inherent powers and an authority to deploy troops to cities when and where he decides there is an emergency, said Matthew Beckmann, a political science professor at UC Irvine.

    “President Trump is testing how far he can push his authority, in no small part to find out who or what can challenge him,” he said.

    State and local officials reacted with shock when they learned Border Patrol agents had massed outside Newsom’s news conference Thursday. The governor was preparing to announce the launch of a campaign for a ballot measure, which if approved by voters, would redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Democrats before the 2026 midterms.

    Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told a Fox 11 reporter: “We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place since we won’t have politicians that’ll do that, we do that ourselves.” When the reporter noted that Newsom was nearby, Bovino responded, “I don’t know where he’s at.”

    However, local law enforcement sources told The Times that the raid was not random and that they had received word from the federal authorities that Little Tokyo was targeted due to its proximity to the governor’s event. The raid, the sources told The Times, was less about making arrests and more of a show of force intended to disrupt Democrats.

    Whatever the reason, the raid generated news coverage and at least in the conservative media, overshadowed the announcement of the redistricting plan.

    Trump’s second term has been marked by increased use of troops in cities. He authorized the deployment of thousands of Marines and National Guard troops to L.A. in June after immigration raids sparked scattered protests. The troops saw little action, and local leaders said the deployment was unnecessary and only served to inflame tensions.

    The operation reached a controversial zenith in July when scores of troops on horseback wearing tactical gear and driving armored vehicles, rolled through MacArthur Park. The incident generated much attention, but local police were surprised that the raid was brief and resulted in few arrests.

    After the MacArthur Park raid, Mayor Karen Bass complained “there’s no plan other than fear, chaos and politics.”

    Beckmann said the situation is a “particularly perilous historical moment because we have a president willing to flout constitutional limits while Congress and the court have been willing to accept pretext as principle.”

    UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Eric Schickler, co-director of the university’s Institute of Governmental Studies, said the recent military displays are part of a larger mission to increase the power of the president and weaken other countervailing forces, such as the dismantling of federal agencies and the weakening of universities.

    “It all adds up to a picture of really trying to turn the president into the one dominant force in American politics — he is the boss of everything, he controls everything,” Schickler said. “And that’s just not how the American political system has worked for 240 years.”

    In some way, Trump’s tactics are an extension of long-held rhetoric. In the 1980s, he regularly railed against crime in New York City, including the rape of a woman in Central Park that captured national headlines. The suspects, known as the Central Park Five, were exonerated after spending years in prison and have filed a defamation suit against Trump.

    Trump and his backers say he is simply keeping campaign promises to reduce crime and deport people in the country illegally.

    “Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

    Federal agents “patrol all areas of Los Angeles every day with over 40 teams on the ground to make L.A. safe,” she said.

    In Washington D.C., where the federal government has began assuming law enforcement responsibilities, the business of policing the streets of the nation’s capital had radically transformed by Friday. Federal agencies typically tasked with investigating drug kingpins, gunrunners and cybercriminals were conducting traffic stops and helping with other routine policing.

    Twenty federal law enforcement teams fanned out across the city Thursday night with more than 1,750 people joining the operation, a White House official told the Associated Press. They made 33 arrests, including 15 people who did not have permanent legal status. Others were arrested on warrants for murder, rape and driving under the influence, the official said.

    Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice, said the administration’s actions not only threaten democracy, but they also have real consequences for local leaders and residents. Citizens often can’t distinguish between federal or local officers and don’t know when the two groups are or aren’t working together.

    “That breeds a lot of confusion and also breeds a lot of fear,” Johnson said.

    Thomas Abt, founding director of University of Maryland’s Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction, emphasized that pulling federal agents from their jobs can hurt overall public safety.

    “There’s a real threat to politicizing federal law enforcement, and sending them wherever elected officials think there’s a photo opportunity instead of doing the hard work of federal law enforcement,” Abt said.

    Already, D.C. residents and public officials have pushed back on federal law enforcement’s presence. When federal officers set up a vehicle checkpoint along the 14th Street Northwest corridor this week, hecklers shouted, “Go home, fascists” and “Get off our streets.”

    On Friday, the District of Columbia filed an emergency motion seeking to block the Trump administration’s takeover of the city’s police department.

    “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement on Friday. “The Administration’s actions are brazenly unlawful. They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of MPD.”

    The show of force in L.A. has also left local officials outraged at what they see as deliberate efforts to sow fear and exert power. Hours before agents arrived in Little Tokyo, Bass and other officials held a news conference calling for an end to the continued immigration raids.

    Bass said she believes the recent actions violated the temporary restraining order upheld this month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting agents from targeting people solely based on their race, vocation, language or location.

    The number of arrests in Southern California declined in July after a judge issued the order. But in the past two weeks, some higher profile raids have begun to ramp up again.

    In one instance, an 18-year-old Los Angeles high school senior was picked up by federal immigration officers while walking his dog in Van Nuys. On Thursday, a man apparently running from agents who showed up at a Home Depot parking lot in Monrovia was hit by a car and killed on the 210 Freeway.

    Bass appeared to be seething as she spoke to reporters after Newsom’s press conference on Thursday, calling the raid in Little Tokyo a “provocative act” and “unbelievably disrespectful.”

    “They’re talking about disorder in Los Angeles, and they are the source of the disorder in Los Angeles right now,” she said.

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    Hannah Fry, Grace Toohey, Richard Winton

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  • ‘A continual assault.’ How UCLA’s research faculty is grappling with Trump funding freeze

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    Their medical research focuses on potentially lifesaving breakthroughs in cancer treatment, and developing tools to more easily diagnose debilitating diseases. Their studies in mathematics could make online systems more robust and secure.

    But as the academic year opens, the work of UCLA’s professors in these and many other fields has been imperiled by the Trump administration’s suspension of $584 million in grant funding, which University of California President James B. Milliken called a “death knell” to its transformative research.

    The freeze came after a July 29 U.S. Department of Justice finding that the university had violated the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students by providing an inadequate response to alleged antisemitism they faced after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

    The fight over the funding stoppage intensified Friday after the Trump administration demanded that UCLA pay a $1-billion fine, among other concessions, to resolve the accusations — and California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will sue, calling the proposal “extortion.”

    Amid heightened tensions in Westwood, thousands of university academics are in limbo. In total, at least 800 grants, mostly from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, have been frozen.

    UCLA scholars described days of confusion as they struggle to understand how the loss of grants would affect their work and scramble to uncover new funding sources — or roles that would ensure their continued pay, or that of their colleagues. While professors still have jobs and paychecks to draw on, many others, including graduate students, rely on grant funding for their salaries, tuition and healthcare.

    At least for the moment, though, several academics told The Times that their work had not yet be interrupted. So far, no layoffs have been announced.

    Sydney Campbell, a UCLA cancer researcher whose grant funding has been cut, stands inside the Biomedical Sciences Research building at UCLA.

    (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

    Sydney Campbell, a pancreatic cancer researcher and postdoctoral scholar at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, said her work — which aims to understand how diet affects the disease — is continuing for now. She has an independent fellowship that “hopefully will protect the majority of my salary.” But others, she said, don’t have that luxury.

    “It is absolutely going to affect people’s livelihoods. I already know of people … with families who are having to take pay cuts almost immediately,” said Campbell, who works for a lab that has lost two National Institutes of Health grants, including one that funds her research.

    Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly of cancers, but Campbell’s work could lead to a better understanding of it, paving the way for more robust prophylactic programs — and treatment plans — that may ultimately help tame the scourge.

    “Understanding how diet can impact cancer development could lead to preventive strategies that we can recommend to patients in the future,” said Campbell, a member of the UAW 4811 academic workers union. “Right now we can’t effectively do that because we don’t have the information about the underlying biology. Our studies will help us actually be able to make recommendations based on science.”

    Campbell’s work — and that of many others at UCLA — is potentially groundbreaking. But it could soon be put on hold.

    “We have people who don’t know if they’re going to be able to purchase experimental materials for the rest of the month,” she said.

    Fears of existential crisis

    For some, the cuts have triggered something close to an existential crisis.

    After professor Dino Di Carlo, chair of the UCLA Samueli Bioengineering Department, learned that about 20 grants were suspended there — including four in his lab worth about $1 million — he felt a profound sadness. He said he doesn’t know why his grants were frozen, and there may not be money to pay his six researchers.

    So Di Carlo, who is researching diagnostics for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, took to LinkedIn, where he penned a post invoking the Franz Kafka novel “The Trial.” The unsettling tale is about a man named Josef K. who wakes up and finds himself under arrest and then on trial — with no understanding of the situation.

    “Like Josef K., the people actually affected — the public, young scientists, patients waiting for better treatments and diagnostic tools — are left asking: What crime did we commit?” wrote Di Carlo. “They are being judged by a system that no longer explains itself.”

    The LinkedIn post quickly attracted dozens of comments and more than 1,000 other responses. Di Carlo, who has been working to find jobs for researchers who depend on paychecks that come from now-suspended grants, said he appreciated the support.

    But, goodwill has its limits. “It doesn’t pay the rent for a student this month,” he said.

    Di Carlo’s research is partly focused on developing an at-home test that would detect Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, which are on the rise. Because no such product is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, he said, people who’ve experienced a tick bite have to wait for lab results to confirm their infection.

    “This delay in diagnosis prevents timely treatment, allowing the disease to progress and potentially lead to long-term health issues,” he said. “A rapid, point-of-care test would allow individuals to receive immediate results, enabling early treatment with antibiotics when the disease is most easily addressed, significantly reducing the risk of chronic symptoms and improving health outcomes.”

    Di Carlo lamented what he called “a continual assault on the scientific community” by the Trump administration, which has canceled billions of dollars in National Institutes of Health funding for universities across the country.

    It “just … hasn’t let up,” Di Carlo said.

    Scrambling for funds

    Some professors who’ve lost grants have spent long hours scrambling to secure new sources of funding.

    Di Carlo said he was in meetings all week to identify which researchers are affected by the cuts, and to try to figure out, “Can we support those students?” He has also sought to determine whether some could be moved to other projects that still have funding, or be given teaching assistant positions, among other options.

    He’s not alone in those efforts. Mathematics professor Terence Tao also has lost a grant worth about $750,000. But Tao said that he was more distressed by the freezing of a $25-million grant for UCLA’s Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. The funding loss for the institute, where Tao is director of special projects, is “actually quite existential,” he said, because the grant is “needed to fund operations” there.

    Tao, who is the James and Carol Collins chair in the College of Letters and Sciences, said the pain goes beyond the loss of funds. “The abruptness — and basically the lack of due process in general — just compounds the damage,” said Tao. “We got no notice.”

    A luminary in his field, Tao conducts research that examines, in part, whether a group of numbers are random or structured. His work could lead to advances in cryptography that may eventually make online systems — such as those used for financial transactions — more secure.

    “It is important to do this kind of research — if we don’t, it’s possible that an adversary, for example, could actually discover these weaknesses that we are not looking for at all,” Tao said. “So you do need this extra theoretical confirmation that things that you think are working actually do work as intended, [and you need to] also explore the negative space of what doesn’t work.”

    Tao said he’s been heartened by donations that the mathematics institute has received from private donors in recent days — about $100,000 so far.

    “We are scrambling for short-term funding because we need to just keep the lights on for the next few months,” said Tao.

    Rafael Jaime, president of United Auto Workers Local 4811, which represents 48,000 academic workers within the University of California — including about 8,000 at UCLA — said he was not aware of any workers who haven’t been paid so far, but that the issue could come to a head at the end of August.

    He said that the UC system “should do everything that it can to ensure that workers aren’t left without pay.”

    What comes next?

    A major stressor for academics: the uncertainty.

    Some researchers whose grants were suspended said they have not received much guidance from UCLA on a path forward. Some of that anxiety was vented on Zoom calls last week, including a UCLA-wide call attended by about 3,000 faculty members.

    UCLA administrators said they are exploring stopgap options, including potential emergency “bridge” funding to grantees to pay researchers or keep up labs such as those that use rodents as subjects.

    Some UCLA academics worried about a brain drain. Di Carlo said that undergraduate students he advises have begun asking for his advice on relocating to universities abroad for graduate school.

    “This has been the first time that I’ve seen undergraduate students that have asked about foreign universities for their graduate studies,” he said. “I hear, ‘What about Switzerland? … What about University of Tokyo?’ This assault on science is making the students think that this is not the place for them.”

    But arguably researchers’ most pressing concern is continuing their work.

    Campbell explained that she has personally been affected by pancreatic cancer — she lost someone close to her to it. She and her peers do the research “for the families” who’ve also been touched by the disease.

    “That the work that’s already in progress has the chance of being stopped in some way is really disappointing,” she said. “Not just for me, but for all those patients I could potentially help.”

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    Daniel Miller, Jaweed Kaleem

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  • Trump seeks $1-billion fine against UCLA. Newsom says ‘we’ll sue,’ calling it extortion

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    Hours after the Trump administration demanded that the University of California pay a $1-billion fine to settle federal accusations of antisemitism in exchange for restoring frozen grant funding to UCLA, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the proposal “extortion” and said the state will go to court to protect the nation’s premier university system.

    “We’ll sue,” Newsom said during a news conference with Texas legislators over California’s effort to counter a contentious Republican redistricting plan in that state.

    President Trump is “trying to silence academic freedom” by “attacking one of the most important public institutions in the United States of America,” Newsom said, adding that he would “stand tall and push back against that, and I believe every member of California Legislature feels the same way.”

    The federal government on Friday said UC should pay the billion-dollar fine in installments and contribute $172 million to a fund for Jewish students and other individuals affected by alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The statute covers illegal discrimination related to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, including Jewish and Israeli identity.

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    In addition, the Trump administration demanded sweeping campus changes encompassing protests, admissions, gender identity in sports and housing, the abolition of scholarships for racial or ethnic groups, and submission to an outside monitor over the agreement, according to four UC senior officials who have reviewed the proposal.

    “He has threatened us through extortion with a billion-dollar fine, unless we do his bidding,” Newsom said.

    “We will not be complicit in this kind of attack on academic freedom on this extraordinary public institution. We are not like some of those other institutions,” he said.

    The governor appeared to be referring to controversial and costly deals the Trump administration secured from Columbia and Brown universities over charges similar to those facing UCLA, deals Newsom criticized a day earlier in public remarks.

    In a statement Friday that UC was “reviewing” the terms, UC President James B. Milliken, who oversees the 10-campus system that includes UCLA, also seemed to rebuff the demand.

    “As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,” Milliken said. “Americans across this great nation rely on the vital work of UCLA and the UC system for technologies and medical therapies that save lives, grow the U.S. economy, and protect our national security.”

    UC Regents Chair Janet Reilly told The Times the university was still willing to negotiate with the Trump administration but not on “unacceptable” terms.

    “Demand for a $1 billion payment from UCLA, coupled with conditions that contradict the university’s values, is unacceptable,” Reilly said, describing it as a “financial burden” that would be “catastrophic for our students, research, our patients and the people of California.

    “The university remains willing to engage in a constructive and good faith dialogue with the federal government but the University of California will always stand firm in protecting the integrity and values of our institution,” Reilly said.

    A spokesperson for UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk referred The Times to Milliken’s statement. Federal negotiations are being handled on a UC-wide level.

    UC is grappling with how to restore $584 million in frozen medical and science grant funds to UCLA. If the deal was accepted, it would be the largest settlement between a university and the Trump administration, far surpassing a $221-million agreement that Columbia University announced last month. Harvard is also reportedly considering a settlement involving a hefty fine.

    “We would never agree to this,” said one of the UC officials who is involved in the deliberations with the Trump administration. “It is more money than was frozen at UCLA. So how does that make sense?”

    But another senior UC official said the figure was understandable if it resolved all federal investigations across the system, even if UC may not ultimately agree to it. The federal proposal focuses on UCLA only, not all campuses.

    Any payment would be a political liability for the university and state leaders in deep-blue California, where Trump’s policies are highly unpopular. A billion dollars would be a financial burden for a university system that is already facing a hiring freeze, budget squeezes, deferred state funding and scattered layoffs.

    UC and individual campuses are under multiple federal investigations into alleged use of race in admissions, employment discrimination against Jews, civil rights complaints from Jewish students and improper reporting of foreign donations.

    UCLA has faced the most charges from the government of any UC or public university, many of them tied to a 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment.

    The encampment, which unsuccessfully demanded the university divest from weapons companies tied to Israel’s war in Gaza, was targeted in a violent overnight attack last spring and was later the subject of federal lawsuit by pro-Israel Jewish students. The students, along with a professor, accused UCLA of enabling antisemitism by not shutting down the encampment, which plaintiffs said blocked pro-Israel Jews from campus pathways. UCLA settled the suit for $6.45 million, including more than $2 million in donations to Jewish nonprofits.

    The Trump administration’s Friday offer follows a similar playbook to agreements it reached with Columbia and Brown universities to restore federal funding and resolve allegations of civil rights violations against Jewish and Israeli students.

    Trump wants to remake universities, which he has called “Marxist” hotbeds of liberalism and anti-Israel sentiment. During his second term, federal agencies have suspended or canceled billions in federal medical and science grants related to gender, LGBTQ+ issues or in response to campuses it accuses of being antisemitic. The White House has also attacked campus diversity programs and admissions practices as being illegal discrimination against white and Asian Americans.

    University leaders have challenged the notion that cutting medical research helps protect Jewish people. “This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination,” Frenk, the UCLA chancellor, said in a campus letter this week.

    At UCLA, Trump’s demands include an end to scholarships that focus on race or ethnicity, the sharing of admissions data with the government and changes to campus protest rules. The Trump administration is also proposing that UCLA Health and the medical school cease gender-affirming care for transgender people.

    UC has already overhauled practices in some areas called for by the Trump administration — including a ban on protest encampments and the abolition of diversity statements in hiring.

    The Trump administration is also saying it wants an outside monitor to oversee the agreement.

    The proposal came one day after Newsom said UC should not bend “on their knees” to Trump. Newsom, a Democrat, has fashioned himself as a national anti-Trump figure and is considering a presidential run in 2028.

    The university system, run by Milliken — who assumed his role only last week — and the Board of Regents, is independent under the state Constitution. But the governor can exercise political sway over the regents, whose members he appoints. Newsom also holds an ex-officio seat on the board.

    Kaleem reported from Los Angeles and Wilner from Washington. Times staff Writer Taryn Luna in Sacramento and Seema Mehta in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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    Jaweed Kaleem, Michael Wilner

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  • Two major reports slam UCLA over policing, violence at pro-Palestinian protest

    Two major reports slam UCLA over policing, violence at pro-Palestinian protest

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    Two high-profile, back-to-back reports slam UCLA leaders for a confusing breakdown in its police response leading to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment in April, with one investigation also calling out the university’s “dramatic failures in confronting antisemitism.”

    A draft report to the Los Angeles Police Commission released Friday cited a lack of coordination between UCLA, LAPD and the California Highway Patrol and smaller municipal police agencies that were hastily called to campus in the spring.

    UCLA, which has its own police force, had distanced itself from relying on the LAPD in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests four years ago, a practice that contributed to the poorly coordinated response, the report suggested. Some arriving teams of officers did not even know their way around the sprawling campus and were subjected to conflicting orders about what to do as the melee unfolded for hours in front of them the night of April 30.

    The LAPD should take the the lead on campus law enforcement ahead of future “large scale events” if university staffing isn’t adequate, the report said.

    The report to the commission, the civilian agency tasked with LAPD oversight, came on the heels of a congressional probe that pilloried the university for allowing antisemitism to foment on campus during pro-Palestinian protests.

    The Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce criticized UCLA and other elite universities, including Harvard and Columbia, for “dramatic failures in confronting antisemitism.” The report — which drew upon emails between UCLA Police, UCLA administrators, UC President Michael V. Drake and UC Regents — followed explosive committee hearings in the last year that contributed to the resignations of presidents of Harvard, Columbia, Rutgers and the University of Pennsylvania.

    In a statement, UCLA Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety Rick Braziel said the findings and recommendations sent to the police commission were under review.

    “Meanwhile, both UCLA and the University of California Office of the President are conducting separate reviews of the events that took place last spring, and UCLA has already been implementing a host of measures to improve campus safety,” Braziel said.

    In a separate university statement on the congressional report, UCLA said it was “committed to combating antisemitism and fostering an environment where every member of our community feels safe and welcome. We have learned valuable lessons from the events of last spring, and ahead of the start of this academic year, instituted reforms and programs to combat discrimination and enhance campus safety.”

    In August, Drake directed chancellors of all 10 campuses to strictly enforce rules against encampments, protests that block pathways and masking that shields identities amid sharp calls to stop policy violations during demonstrations.

    Early signs of trouble

    The combined narrative of both reports offer the most detailed timeline on events leading up to the night of violence that began April 30, with repercussions spanning through May 2, when a massive police sweep of the encampment led more than 200 arrests and six uses of police force.

    In a UCLA Police message thread on April 25, five days before the violence, a patrol officer suggested police should identify and remove people who were not UCLA students, staff and faculty from the recently formed encampment at Royce Quad in the center of campus, the House report said. An unidentified individual responded that UCLA had decided to “hold off.”

    Around 5 a.m. on April 25, then-UCLA police Chief John Thomas texted LAPD commanders Steve Lurie and Jonathan Tom to inform them that multiple tents were being set up on campus and that UCLA “may need some assistance as the day progresses,” said the police commission report, compiled by LAPD and submitted by Interim Police Chief Dominic H. Choi to the commission. The panel could approve it as early as its next meeting Tuesday.

    On April 25, a UCLA police lieutenant informed the then-UCLA police chief that more than 50 unidentified people were unloading wood, tents and other materials from truck at Royce Quad. UCLA closed off a nearby street to prevent further access, but the erection of tents in by Royce Quad and Powell Library continued, the House committee report said.

    The encampment grew to more than 150 people with tents surrounded by wooden pellets, with the university fire marshal warning that the use of wood was not advised, the House committee report said.

    “Over the course of the next day, it became apparent to UCPD and campus administrators that the university was underequipped,” according to the House report, which largely summarized university emails.

    “UCLA leaders worried that they would be unable to restrict access to the area or prevent further expansion of the encampment without a significant surge in manpower, with one senior administrator warning that ‘no temporary fence is going to keep these people out,’” the House report said.

    On April 27, Choi approved the deployment of two LAPD mobile response squads to campus to stand by. Thomas told Choi that Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica were also sending squads and that LAPD would be the last resort.

    The following morning, Thomas wrote in a group chat with other law enforcement leaders that more pro-Palestinian protesters planned to go to campus. A few minutes later, an LAPD lieutenant texted his colleagues to say that UCLA had “no plans” to clear out protesters, the report said.

    By 10:30 a.m. more than 1,000 pro-Israel counterprotesters arrived by the encampment.

    That morning, a single squad car from West L.A. was dispatched to monitor the protest. By 10:41 a.m., police began receiving reports that protesters and counterprotesters were “getting physical.”

    Additional LAPD officers were sent to campus. About 11:14 a.m., the LAPD lieutenant texted Lurie to say that UCLA had requested the LAPD’s help in clearing out the protesters. But he responded that the LAPD would not participate in making arrests.

    Around 1:34 p.m., Lurie texted a group of LAPD senior staff to inform them that the pro-Israel protest crowd was thinning out and UCLA administrators were discussing how and when to clear the encampment. Choi responded that the LAPD would not be involved in clearing out the area. About 90% of the pro-Israel group left within the hour.

    There were further moments of tension during the next two days, as coordination with the LAPD showed signs of being disjointed, the report to the police commission indicated.

    It exploded the night of on April 30.

    As reports of clashes began to increasingly pick up, UCLA police leaders contacted Lurie to let him know that campus police were being overwhelmed by the crowd.

    While the initial message was sent at 11:07 p.m., campus police officials didn’t make an official request for mutual aid until 11:31 p.m. and again 10 minutes later, the commission report said. The first LAPD units arrived on campus by 12:12 a.m. By about 1:45 a.m., several mobile response squads waded into the melee to try to separate protesters and counterprotesters who’d converged near a flagpole.

    But they took “no further action to clear the crowds” because they were still formulating a plan and awaiting backup, the commission report said. Under the department’s crowd control rules, officers are supposed to wait for “sufficient personnel” before entering a crowd to make arrests. It was at least another hour before CHP officers began to clear the rest of the courtyard near the encampment. By 3:48 a.m., the area was cleared although the encampment remained.

    By the next night, multiple law enforcement agencies participated in clearing the encampment with more than 200 arrests.

    The report to the commission recommended that UCPD, LAPD and other police agencies “establish procedures” for who is in control when officers in the primary jurisdiction over “overwhelmed,” as was the case at UCLA. It said combining different agencies together can be “problematic” because of “varying use of force policies and tactics.”

    It also said that LAPD officers should better coordinate with UCLA so they are more aware of how to navigate campus and that the LAPD should improve on its record keeping and training to improve response to similar future protests.

    Protests fomented antisemitism

    The House committee’s findings accuse UCLA of largely ignoring the growing encampment while being aware as early as April 27 of campus accusations of antisemitic language or acts stemming from it.

    Chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the committee has been accused of bias. Democrats, who make up 20 of the 44 members of the committee, have criticized Republicans as not being serious in their pursuit to combat antisemitism. Members of the House minority have called the hearings an attempt by the chamber’s Republicans to use campus unrest for political gain, pointing out that equal attention has not been given to anti-Muslim or anti-Arab hatred, which have also increased since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

    The committee grilled former UCLA Chancellor Gene Block in the spring along with the presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities but questions to Block about the violence at UCLA largely came from Democrats.

    USC escapes harsh criticism

    Separately on Friday, the Los Angeles Police Commission also released a report on USC, where LAPD arrested 94 people on April 24 as police and campus safety officers cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at Alumni Park.

    That report, which is significantly shorter than the UCLA one, was less critical. USC did not reply to a request for comment about on the finding, which said that LAPD deployed 619 officers the campus over three days between April 24 and May 5. The report’s recommendations included that police do a better job at “tracking personnel” in order to estimate costs and more closely follow reporting procedures on use of force.

    Police used force on two occasions at USC. In one, an LAPD officer fired a 40mm round at a protester, and in the other an officer used their baton. Neither incident resulted in injuries, the report said. But, the cases weren’t immediately investigated, as required by department policy, because of the department’s reliance on paper records.

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    Jaweed Kaleem, Libor Jany

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  • Giving these classy college professors an A plus (25 Photos)

    Giving these classy college professors an A plus (25 Photos)

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    After our previous ‘hot for teacher’ gallery, you had to know this one was on deck. For those of you thinking about going to Grad School, or maybe just taking a few courses here and there, we’ve got you covered.

    Again I give these lovely ladies all the credit in the world for choosing to educate future generations. Because if I had to do what they do, I’d crumble up into a ball on the floor.

    Enjoy!

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    Zach

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  • Creating esports programs with managed network services

    Creating esports programs with managed network services

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    Key points:

    Esports programs are continuing to grow in popularity, as evidenced by the widespread adoption by schools across the country. In fact, the global esports market is projected to grow to $4.8 billion by 2030. While esports programs are more commonly found on college and university campuses, high schools and even middle schools have started launching programs. 

    Participating in esports can help students develop teamwork and leadership skills, and may even lead to scholarship opportunities at certain colleges and universities, according to Scholarships.com. Technology serves as the underlying foundation for any scholastic esports program; however, organizers don’t need to have robust internal IT teams–the expertise of a technology partner can help get students into the esports arena. 

    Bringing an esports program to life 

    A modern digital infrastructure is the critical foundation for a successful esports program. In the world of online gaming, a few milliseconds can make the difference between a win or loss–with school pride, prizes, and potentially scholarships on the line. Latency or lag time in a school’s internet connection can significantly impact the outcome of a competition. Using a dedicated wired connection can provide optimal reliability and minimize latency. It is also helpful to consider service-level agreements (SLAs) from providers that not only guarantee reliability, but also include strong metrics for performance indicators such as latency. As the esports program grows, the digital infrastructure should be able to easily scale. The increased bandwidth required by adding more players and playing increasingly high-resolution games shouldn’t risk affecting other school operations on the network.  

    The Cannon School, a K-12 school in Concord, North Carolina, has created a successful esports program that serves both as a recreational league and a competitive varsity sport. The school opted for a co-managed system where its service partner installed fiber connectivity and manages the security of the network–unified threat management that includes a firewall, advanced malware protection, and intrusion prevention–while Cannon School’s internal IT team manages the content filtering to ensure that students are accessing only age-appropriate websites.  

    Approximately 60 students joined Cannon School’s esports program in its first two years of operating and about half compete on the varsity team. Tram Tran, the school’s Manager of Information Technology, credits its popularity to the simple fact that young people love computer gaming. Tran expects the school’s esports program to see a surge in participants over the next several years, and the implemented IT solution can easily scale to address the greater number of users on the system, as well as the ever-increasing data-intensive video games.  

    “With our esports program, we are building this pathway from high school to college and then from college to the pros,” Tran said. 

    Securing technology as the foundation for esports 

    Understanding and implementing the technology foundation necessary may be daunting for schools with limited internal IT resources, but working with an experienced technology partner can help. Technology partners not only offer the expertise and guidance needed for implementing an esports program, but also can provide ongoing support–through managed network services–to ensure that network operations are continually monitored and that competitions have the bandwidth needed to run smoothly.  

    According to the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) on the 2023 State of EdTech Leadership, nearly half of respondents (45 percent) felt inadequately staffed to plan and implement new technology. Managed network services can offer schools peace of mind by monitoring for network performance and cybersecurity issues 24/7, freeing IT staff from day-to-day troubleshooting. Beyond supplementing staffing resources, managed services also offer the benefit of no upfront hardware ownership costs, and the fixed, regular expense offers predictability for schools’ budgets.  

    Next steps 

    For schools thinking about launching an esports program, a conversation with a potential technology solutions partner is a good place to start. An experienced partner can evaluate a school’s current IT network services, help identify what is required, and determine a realistic plan and timeline to establish a program. Schools equipped with a robust digital infrastructure can offer students unique opportunities to compete, collaborate, and thrive in the realm of esports, and leveraging managed network services for help with the technology performance can make things easier for the employees who are focused on the program’s execution and success.  

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    Mark Kornegay, Spectrum Enterprise

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  • Generous Gift Will Help Women Succeed in STEMM

    Generous Gift Will Help Women Succeed in STEMM

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    A new scholarship aims to help create positive change in the community.


    Melbourne australia, October 23, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    A $100,000 gift to RMIT from soft facility services company GJK Facility Services will help disadvantaged students overcome the barriers they face to higher education.

    The generous gift will fund the GJK Facility Services Scholarship, worth up to $10,000 a year for three years. 

    The scholarship is aimed at students who face challenges in accessing higher education, particularly those identifying as women, from rural or financially disadvantaged backgrounds, or pursuing science, technology, engineering or mathematics disciplines. 

    The hope is that the funding will help recipients achieve their educational and career aspirations and, ultimately, bring about positive change in the community. 

    GJK, which provides services to RMIT, has supported another scholarship program at the University since 2018, for environmental science students who have demonstrated academic merit, leadership skills and a passion for sustainability and energy management.

    Both scholarships are part of the company’s longstanding commitment to investing in initiatives and programs that benefit the wider community. GJK has its own social impact program, GJK Giving Back, and in 2022, the firm’s Founder and Managing Director, George Stamas, received the Order of Australia for his contributions to the community and business.

    Elias Stamas, CEO of GJK Facility Services, said the decision to support RMIT students through the new GJK Facility Services Scholarship was grounded in a shared commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and inclusive learning environments. 

    He added that the collaboration with RMIT exemplified the potential for organisations to positively influence society. “By investing in education and supporting scholarships, GJK Facility Services is not only fulfilling its mission of giving back but also aligns with RMIT’s strategy to contribute to the communities it serves,” he said. 
     

    Together, we are creating a pathway for talented individuals to overcome obstacles, pursue higher education, and ultimately drive positive change.

    Professor Kay Latham is Dean of STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) Diversity and Inclusion at RMIT. 

    She said: “For women and under-represented people in STEMM, access to a scholarship can make all the difference, in some cases as to whether pursuing a higher education qualification is even feasible or not. 

    “A scholarship such as GJK’s will provide a welcome financial ‘buffer’, but through this also the gift of time and greater freedom – freedom to embrace university life more fully, lessening the need to combine study with external part-time work, and helping to support other responsibilities.  

    “Not to mention the amazing confidence boost of having your talent and potential recognised and encouraged – no small thing for anyone!”

    Learn more about supporting scholarships at RMIT. 

    Source: GJK Facility Services

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  • One arrested as UCLA police dismantle ‘Gaza solidarity sukkah’ and disperse student protest

    One arrested as UCLA police dismantle ‘Gaza solidarity sukkah’ and disperse student protest

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    One person was arrested at UCLA on Monday night on suspicion of failing to disperse after the university’s Police Department ordered around 40 protesters to leave Dickson Court North, where they had established a “Gaza solidarity Sukkah” and a handful of tents, authorities said.

    Student protesters erected the sukkah Monday morning to observe the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and demand the university divest from companies that do business with Israel and call for an end to the war in Palestine. By Monday evening, students had also set up a small number of tents.

    At 3:20 p.m., UCPD issued a statement saying that students were assembling in an area not designated for public expression, using unauthorized structures and amplified sound — all of which violate the protest policies enacted in September in response to the massive pro-Palestinian protests that rattled campus in April.

    According to reporting from the Daily Bruin, a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters arrived in Dickson Court North around 8 p.m., and pro-Palestinian protesters began dismantling their tents around 8:20 p.m.

    The department issued an order to disperse about 10 minutes later, after which most of the protesters left the area, according to UCPD. Hired security guards then removed the sukkah, according to the Bruin.

    Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the biblical story of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years after escaping slavery in Egypt. During this time, Jews eat, dwell and pray in outdoor structures known as sukkahs to remember the fragile structures their ancestors lived in after fleeing Egypt.

    Student protest organizers said they were using the holiday to call attention to the displacement and death inflicted on Palestinians and Lebanese people by Israel.

    “I refuse to observe Sukkot as normal when university investments continue to fund the genocide of Palestinians,” said protest organizer Leah Jacobson in a statement. “The principle of pikuach nefesh, or saving a soul, demands we put other laws aside in order to preserve human life. I am here aligning my Jewish practice with my support for Palestinian liberation.”

    Protesters are demanding the university divest from weapons and surveillance system manufacturers that do business with Israel such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

    The UC system has repeatedly opposed calls for divestment saying it impinges on the academic freedom of the university community. The UC system also states that tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations and that none of these funds are used for investment purposes.

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    Clara Harter

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  • Governor Highlights Florida Prepaid Program Success, Encourages Parents to Claim Refunds

    Governor Highlights Florida Prepaid Program Success, Encourages Parents to Claim Refunds

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    During National College Savings Month, Governor Ron DeSantis announced record refunds to parents through the Florida Prepaid program and encourages all Florida families to take advantage of an affordable prepaid college plan.

    In total, Florida has returned nearly $1 billion to Florida families through Prepaid Florida refunds. Florida Prepaid is the largest and longest running prepaid program of its kind, with a 35-year track record of helping over 1.2 million Florida families save for college so they can graduate and enter the workforce without burdensome loan debts.

    “Because of our focus on academic achievement and fiscal responsibility, Florida has both the number one ranked higher education system and the lowest tuition in the country,” said Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. “Florida’s flexible college savings options like the Florida Prepaid program allow parents to get a head start on paying for the future, and even get money back when tuition stays low. And because I have ensured tuition has not been raised in Florida since I’ve become Governor, we have another round of refunds available for parents now.”

    The Florida Prepaid college saving program allows Florida families to lock in future tuition costs at today’s prices. Because the program factors in what tuition may cost in the future, parents receive a refund if tuition stays lower than what is predicted, often resulting in thousands of dollars back.

    “Florida is setting an example for the rest of the nation for ensuring that students can access higher education without taking on high amounts of debt,” said Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. “I am proud that Florida not only offers options like Florida Prepaid, but we are also returning money to parents because Governor DeSantis has kept tuition low.”

    “There is a national narrative that higher education is extremely costly and not worth it. As the number one state for higher education for eight years in a row, Florida universities are a great return on investment. Florida has held tuition and fees flat and continues to prioritize textbook affordability,” said Ray Rodrigues, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida. “National College Savings Month provides an opportunity to highlight the affordability of our public institutions and the benefit Florida’s Prepaid College Savings Programs offer to families.”

    Since Governor DeSantis took office, Florida has secured two rollbacks on Florida Prepaid Plan rates, one in 2020 and another earlier this year. These rollbacks have resulted in hundreds of thousands of families paying less, with their prepaid plan rates being reduced by a cumulative amount of $2.6 billion. In fact, more than 40,000 families still need to collect their 2024 refund, with over $130 million in unclaimed refunds.

    To find out if you have an unclaimed refund, please login to your Florida Prepaid account.

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  • Faculty accuse UC campuses of labor violations over pro-Palestine protest crackdowns

    Faculty accuse UC campuses of labor violations over pro-Palestine protest crackdowns

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    Faculty across the state have accused the University of California system of carrying out a sweeping campaign to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and protests in violation of state labor law.

    The Council of University of California Faculty Associations said UC administrators have threatened faculty for teaching about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and launched disciplinary proceedings against faculty for supporting on-campus student encampments as well as backing a strike by student academic workers this spring.

    The faculty group made the allegations in a 581-page complaint filed Thursday with California’s Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor-management interaction for public employees in the state. The unfair labor practice charge was co-signed by faculty associations at seven UC campuses, including Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco.

    Faculty members gathered at UCLA midday Thursday to announce the charge. At the news conference, Constance Penley, president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, described the university’s actions as a “relentless campaign to chill faculty’s exercise of their academic freedom and to deter them from teaching about the war in a way that does not align with the university’s position.”

    Faculty have also been investigated for pro-Palestine social media posts, arrested for exercising their free speech rights and were surveilled and intimidated by university representatives, the filing alleged.

    The push from faculty highlights how, months after police cleared pro-Palestinian encampments at universities, the fallout has continued on various campuses, with university officials implementing new protest rules and students grappling with ongoing suspensions and holds on their records.

    The faculty claims build on an earlier charge filed by the UCLA Faculty Assn. in the aftermath of attacks and mass arrests faced by students and faculty participating in an on-campus encampment in April and May. And they parallel similar allegations made by unions representing UC employees, including United Auto Workers Local 481, which represents student academic workers and the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents 6,500 librarians and teaching faculty across the university system.

    The various charges, filed earlier this year with the state labor board allege essentially that the university had failed to maintain safe working conditions, disregarded the free speech rights of its employees, and unlawfully made changes to working conditions in response to campus protests.

    The university defends its course of action. In response to a request for comment, UC spokesperson Heather Hansen pointed to a university statement previously filed with the state labor board in response to the UCLA Faculty Assn.’s charge.

    The university stated that while it “supports free speech and lawful protests,” it must also “ensure that all of its community members can safely continue to study, work, and exercise their rights, which is why it has in place policies that regulate the time, place, and manner for protest activities on its campuses.”

    “The University has allowed — and continues to allow — lawful protesting activities surrounding the conflict in the Middle East. But when protests violate University policy or threaten the safety and security of others, the University has taken lawful action to end impermissible and unlawful behavior,” the university said.

    The filing details instances of the university allegedly investigating and disciplining faculty.

    Soon after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the start of Israel’s bombing siege of Gaza, the university began sending emails to faculty threatening that they could be investigated and disciplined for teaching content outside the scope of their courses. In November, UC San Diego investigated two lecturers for teaching about the history of the Palestinian territories, the filing said. A UC Irvine faculty member was sent a “letter of warning” by the administration for holding a vote on whether to conduct class at the on-campus encampment, with optional attendance.

    In another example cited, a medical school lecturer at UC San Francisco who delivered a talk in April about trauma-informed care at a health equity conference was barred from participating in future educational activities after she devoted some six minutes of a 50-minute course to discussing the topic as it related to Palestinians’ health challenges. A campus administrator informed the lecturer they had received complaints that her talk was “biased and antisemitic,” and took down an online video of the talk. The ban was eventually lifted, but the video remains offline.

    The complaint says the university’s “harsh crackdown against professors for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints stands in stark contrast to its treatment of vocal pro-Israeli faculty.”

    The university refused to initiate a formal disciplinary investigation into a pro-Israel faculty member at UC Irvine accused of harassing and physically intimidating an undergraduate student, although video footage was provided of the faculty member “cornering, physically intimidating, and interrogating a visibly scared student,” the filing said.

    After an unfair labor practice charge is filed, the Public Employee Relations Board will review and evaluate the case, and decide whether to dismiss the charge or proceed with having parties negotiate a settlement. If no settlement is reached, the case would be scheduled for a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.

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    Suhauna Hussain

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  • “I’m interested in visiting Europe”: How this student can build a credit score while earning valuable travel rewards – MoneySense

    “I’m interested in visiting Europe”: How this student can build a credit score while earning valuable travel rewards – MoneySense

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    Before heading to school, Kinsey acquired her first credit card, an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa. Although she also banks with EQ Bank, her primary bank card was with Alterna Savings and Credit Union. “So it was kind of natural and the easiest way for me to get a credit card,” she explains.

    Still new to credit cards, Kinsey doesn’t have a credit score—a number between 300 and 900 that shows lenders how creditworthy you are (the higher the score, the better). She’s looking to build one while also earning rewards—be it cash back (to “make the most of my spending”) or travel points (she’s an Aeroplan member). 

    Kinsey is an avid traveller—she recently visited Greece and Japan, where she has family. “I’ve been down south to Cuba and Florida. I went to Halifax, because I have some friends out there. I’ll travel within Canada, but I’m definitely more interested in visiting places in Europe,” she says. 

    Photo courtesy of Aya Kinsey

    What credit card features does she need? 

    Like many university students, Kinsey’s ambitious, eager to travel and just wants to find her financial footing. Given her existing ties to Alterna, it’s no surprise she ended up with an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa—most Canadians stick with the same financial institutions for a good part of their lives. But, Kinsey can find a credit card better suited to her needs by expanding her horizons. 

    With Alterna, she gets 1 Collabria reward point per $1 spent on groceries, gas, public transit, select recurring bills and digital streaming purchases, and 0.5 points on all other purchases. The value of those points maybe an issue. The value of a Collabria point fluctuates based on what you’re redeeming for: cash back offers the best value, at $0.01 per point, but you must redeem in increments of 3,000 points (for $30), 5,000 points ($50) and 10,000 points (for $100), depending on the Collabria card you have. And when redeeming for travel, merchandise or gift cards, a point can be worth anywhere from $0.002 and $0.008. This means cardholders earn a maximum return of 1% in rewards ($0.01) for every dollar they spend. Often, the return is less than that. 

    For Kinsdey, it’s clear travelling is a priority. She needs a credit card that can cheapen the costs of flying to visit family and friends. At the same time, she’s just getting familiar with paying for life on her own, tuition being her biggest expense, and her income this year will be modest at best—she hopes to freelance as a content marketer. 

    So, right now, Kinsey’s primary goals should be building a credit score and increasing her income potential by completing her studies. Later in life, she will likely have access to plenty of premium travel credit cards to match her desired lifestyle—for example, she’ll need a personal annual income of $60,000 for Visa Infinite cards and $80,000 for World Elite Mastercards. 

    Which credit card should she get?

    Credit card pick #1: CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students

    For her current situation, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students would tick a lot of boxes. It’s a no-fee, no-income-required card. Kinsey’s already an Aeroplan points collector, and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa would add 1 Aeroplan point to her account per $1 spent on Air Canada purchases (such as future flights) and on groceries—she has a campus meal plan but expects it won’t cover all her food expenses. That’s in addition to points already earned as an Aeroplan member, through the “earn points twice” feature of Aeroplan credit cards. 

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    Justin Dallaire

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  • “I’m interested in visiting Europe”: How this student can build a credit score while earning valuable travel rewards – MoneySense

    “I’m interested in visiting Europe”: How this student can build a credit score while earning valuable travel rewards – MoneySense

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    Before heading to school, Kinsey acquired her first credit card, an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa. Although she also banks with EQ Bank, her primary bank card was with Alterna Savings and Credit Union. “So it was kind of natural and the easiest way for me to get a credit card,” she explains.

    Still new to credit cards, Kinsey doesn’t have a credit score—a number between 300 and 900 that shows lenders how creditworthy you are (the higher the score, the better). She’s looking to build one while also earning rewards—be it cash back (“to make the most of my spending”) or travel points (she’s an Aeroplan member). 

    Kinsey is an avid traveller—she recently visited Greece and Japan, where she has family. “I’ve been down south to Cuba and Florida. I went to Halifax, because I have some friends out there. I’ll travel within Canada, but I’m definitely more interested in visiting places in Europe,” she says. 

    Photo courtesy of Aya Kinsey

    What credit card features does she need? 

    Like many university students, Kinsey’s ambitious, eager to travel and just wants to find her financial footing. Given her existing ties to Alterna, it’s no surprise she ended up with an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa—most Canadians stick with the same financial institutions for a good part of their lives. But, Kinsey can find a credit card better suited to her needs by expanding her horizons. 

    Her Alterna card is associated with Collabria rewards, a loyalty program that works with some Canadian credit unions. She gets 1 Collabria reward point per $1 spent on groceries, gas, public transit, select recurring bills and digital streaming purchases, and 0.5 points on all other purchases. The value of a Collabria point fluctuates based on what you’re redeeming for: cash back offers the best value, at $0.01 per point, but you must redeem in increments of 3,000 points (for $30), 5,000 points ($50) and 10,000 points (for $100), depending on the Collabria card you have. And when redeeming for travel, merchandise or gift cards, a point can be worth anywhere from $0.002 and $0.008. This means cardholders earn a maximum return of 1% in rewards ($0.01) for every dollar they spend. Often, the return is less than that. 

    For Kinsdey, it’s clear travelling is a priority. She needs a credit card that can cheapen the costs of flying to visit family and friends. At the same time, she’s just getting familiar with paying for life on her own, tuition being her biggest expense, and her income this year will be modest at best—she hopes to freelance as a content marketer. 

    So, right now, Kinsey’s primary goals should be building a credit score and increasing her income potential by completing her studies. Later in life, she will likely have access to plenty of premium travel credit cards to match her desired lifestyle—for example, she’ll need a personal annual income of $60,000 for Visa Infinite cards and $80,000 for World Elite Mastercards. 

    Which credit card should she get?

    Credit card pick #1: CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students

    For her current situation, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students would tick a lot of boxes. It’s a no-fee, no-income-required card. Kinsey’s already an Aeroplan points collector, and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa would add 1 Aeroplan point to her account per $1 spent on Air Canada purchases (such as future flights) and on groceries—she has a campus meal plan but expects it won’t cover all her food expenses. That’s in addition to points already earned as an Aeroplan member, through the “earn points twice” feature of Aeroplan credit cards. 

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    Justin Dallaire

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  • America’s oldest colleges prove even our ancestors were nerds (12 Photos)

    America’s oldest colleges prove even our ancestors were nerds (12 Photos)

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    Camry

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  • Micro-credentials in Canada: Is it worth it to upskill? – MoneySense

    Micro-credentials in Canada: Is it worth it to upskill? – MoneySense

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    These digital-first bragging rights are known as micro-credentials, and they’re booming right now. Micro-credentialing has been accelerated by the pandemic-driven demand for online learning, job-seekers’ efforts to upskill or reskill, and educational institutions’ desire to attract more students. 

    If you’re looking to increase your skill set or stand out from a sea of job candidates, micro-credentials could be a worthwhile investment—plus, you may qualify for financial assistance or tax credits. The trick is to choose a micro-credential program that’s right for you and your goals.

    What is a micro-credential? 

    A micro-credential is similar to a certificate or a degree, but more targeted and with less of a time commitment. Essentially, it’s a skills or learning upgrade that is focused on helping workers meet the needs of employers—or, conversely, of helping employers find or train workers with the skills they need. And it’s a recorded achievement: you earn a badge or certificate, or something else to prove you earned each particular credential.

    Micro-credential programs are often offered by universities and colleges, but you’ll also find programs from major employers like IBM and Salesforce, specialty providers such as FutureLearn and Coursera, and non-profits. Many other individuals and organizations offer learning and training programs, too: you might see courses available from your favourite finance blogger, or from organizations like Raw Signal Group and The Trauma of Money. Since trustworthiness is a key factor in micro-credentials, institutions that already have that trust baked in are well placed to flourish in this relatively new industry. Whether you choose to go with an accredited educational institution or a startup depends on what you want to learn and why.

    What are people most interested in when it comes to micro-credentials? According to Google data from early August 2024, top searches include:

    1. PMP (project management professional)
    2. CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
    3. Food handler
    4. Food safety
    5. BLS (basic life support)
    6. CSM (certified scrum master)
    7. WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System)
    8. Smart Serve certification (responsible liquor training program for Ontario)
    9. Cybersecurity certifications
    10. Google certification

    And the top-searched topics on eCampusOntario’s Micro-credentials Portal over the past 12 months are: 

    1. Project management 
    2. Accounting 
    3. Data 
    4. Leadership 
    5. Business 
    6. Payroll 
    7. Health 
    8. Marketing 
    9. Mental health 
    10. Finance 
    11. Human resources 
    12. Data science 
    13. Law 
    14. Python 
    15. Construction 
    16. Education 
    17. Writing 
    18. Digital marketing 
    19. Healthcare 
    20. Cybersecurity 

    According to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), the two defining features of micro-credentials are a narrow scope and a short completion time. That makes efficiency the primary appeal of micro-credential programs. Degrees take years to complete and often contain requirements that are superfluous for those in mid-career. And, of course, many Canadians simply don’t have the resources to take extended time off to upgrade their skills or go back to school full-time. 

    Micro-credential programs are appealing in other ways, too. Many are offered online or in a hybrid format, meaning students can complete them on their own schedule. Micro-credentials also tend to be timely and relevant, so that people can acquire competencies they can use immediately. Canada-based programs can be a useful bridge for newcomers trying to localize their international skill sets and experience. Plus, they’re more affordable than traditional in-depth education and skills programs. In essence, they’re mini-programs that offer you what you need, when you need it—and no more.

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    Kat Tancock

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  • L.A. and O.C. colleges among six California schools that failed to accurately report campus crimes

    L.A. and O.C. colleges among six California schools that failed to accurately report campus crimes

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    Los Angeles and Orange County colleges are among six California schools that failed to comply with federal law by inaccurately reporting on campus crimes, according to a state audit.

    Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles and Orange Coast College were found to have inaccurate or incomplete crime statistics, according to the state’s recently released report of the 2023 school year. The other schools were the University of San Diego, Chico State, Imperial Valley College and UC Santa Cruz.

    “Because of these errors and omissions, current and prospective students, staff and other stakeholders may have an inaccurate understanding of campus safety,” the report stated.

    Mount Saint Mary’s and Orange Coast also failed to comply with federal and state laws because they lacked adequate informational procedures, such as providing desktop manuals that staff can follow when preparing crime reports, and or failing to provide sufficient training on federal law requirements.

    Officials at both schools did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

    Specifically, Mount Saint Mary’s did not track its reportable crime incidents in a central location, which led to the college overreporting 16 of 57 crimes, with an overall error rate of 30%, in the 2022 crime statistics, the state audit found.

    Mount Saint Mary’s and Orange Coast had incomplete daily crime logs. The colleges were missing between 17 and 25 crimes from their daily crime logs out of about 60 crimes the state reviewed for each of the six institutions.

    All the colleges that were reviewed did not disclose to students, faculty and administrators all campus safety policies, emergency response and evacuation procedures, and programs that federal law requires.

    The audit also found that Orange Coast misreported crimes.

    Misreporting occurs when a school correctly identifies a crime but does not report it under the correct category as required by federal law or does not correctly document the location of the crime, the state auditor’s report said.

    The auditor’s review of 60 crimes at Orange Coast found that the school reported two crimes in the wrong federal category, including an incident of hate crime intimidation that was reported as domestic violence.

    “In that incident, a student physically intimidated another student and used derogatory language aimed at the victim’s sexuality while the two were living together in student housing,” according to the report.

    Orange Coast reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Education as domestic violence. However, the state auditor’s review of the case narrative suggests that the institution should have reported the incident as a hate crime of intimidation based on sexual orientation.

    Every three years the California state auditor conducts a review of several colleges and universities to see if they’re in compliance with the Clery Act, officially known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act.

    The Clery Act, established in 1990, is a consumer protection law that requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data as well as safety policies. These educational institutions must publish an annual security report containing statistics related to specific crimes, such as homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults.

    Colleges who receive federal financial aid to record and report campus crime data are obligated to follow the Clery Act and are subject to review by the state auditor.

    How the state auditor determines which colleges to review is dependent on several factors including the number of crimes each institution reported to the U.S. Department of Education, the institution’s geographic location, the type of institution and whether the state auditor had previously audited it.

    Over the past 21 years, the state auditor has consistently found noncompliance with Clery Act requirements at 41 institutions.

    The state auditor’s findings can prompt the Department of Education to issue fines of up to approximately $70,000 for each violation.

    In 2020, UC Berkeley was fined $2.35 million for Clery Act violations and for a lack of sufficient administrative capability to oversee its Clery Act reporting.

    All six institutions agreed with the state auditor’s conclusions and indicated that they will implement the provided recommendations that include establishing procedures for compiling Clery Act statistics and developing procedures that campus law enforcement or security can follow to completely record the daily crime log, according to the report.

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    Karen Garcia

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  • Study details ‘transformative’ results from L.A. pilot that guaranteed families $1,000 a month

    Study details ‘transformative’ results from L.A. pilot that guaranteed families $1,000 a month

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    Some of L.A.’s poorest families received cash assistance of $1,000 a month as part of a 12-month pilot project launched nearly three years ago. There were no strings attached and they could use the money however they saw fit.

    Now, a new study finds that the city-funded program was overwhelmingly beneficial.

    Participants in the program experienced a host of financial benefits, according to an analysis co-authored by University of Pennsylvania and UCLA researchers. Beyond that, the study found, the initiative gave people the time and space to make deeper changes in their lives. That included landing better jobs, leaving unsafe living conditions and escaping abusive relationships.

    “If you are trapped in financial scarcity, you are also trapped in time scarcity,” Dr. Amy Castro, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, told The Times. “There’s no time for yourself; there’s no time for your kids, your neighbors or anybody else.”

    The Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot, or BIG:LEAP, disbursed $38.4 million in city funds to 3,200 residents who were pregnant or had at least one child, lived at or below the federal poverty level and experienced hardship related to COVID-19. Participants were randomly selected from about 50,000 applicants and received the payments for 12 months starting in 2022.

    Castro and her colleagues partnered with researchers at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health to compare the experiences of participants in L.A.’s randomized control trial — the country’s first large-scale guaranteed-income pilot using public funds — with those of nearly 5,000 people who didn’t receive the unconditional cash.

    Researchers found that participants reported a meaningful increase in savings and were more likely to be able to cover a $400 emergency during and after the program. Guaranteed-income recipients also were more likely to secure full-time or part-time employment, or to be looking for work, rather than being unemployed and not looking for work, the study found.

    “Instead of taking the very first job that was available, that might not have been a lasting, good fit for the family, [the participants were] saying, ‘Hold on a minute, I have a moment to sit and think and breathe, and think about where I want my family to be,’ ” said Dr. Stacia West, also a co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research.

    In a city with sky-high rents, participants reported that the guaranteed income functioned as “a preventative measure against homelessness,” according to the report, helping them offset rental costs and serving as a buffer while they waited for other housing support.

    It also prevented or reduced the incidence of intimate partner violence, the analysis found, by making it possible for people and their children to leave and find other housing. Intimate partner violence is an intractable social challenge, Castro said, so to see improvements with just 12 months of funding is a “pretty extraordinary change.”

    People who had struggled to maintain their health because of inflexible or erratic work schedules and lack of child care reported that the guaranteed income provided the safety net they needed to maintain healthier behaviors, the report said. They reported sleeping better, exercising more, resuming necessary medications and seeking mental health therapy for themselves and their children.

    Compared with those who didn’t receive cash, guaranteed income recipients were more likely to enroll their kids in sports and clubs during and after the pilot.

    Los Angeles resident Ashley Davis appeared at a news conference Tuesday about the study findings and said that her health improved because she could afford to buy fruits, vegetables and smoothies. Before, she was pre-diabetic and “my cholesterol was going through the roof,” Davis said.

    “I was neglecting my own needs,” said Davis, who described herself as a single mother of a special-needs child. She switched careers and is now studying to be a nurse, she said.

    Abigail Marquez, general manager of the Community Investment for Families Department, which helped oversee BIG:LEAP, said she’s spent 20 years working on various anti-poverty programs.

    “I can say confidently that this is by far the most transformative program,” Marquez said.

    BIG:LEAP was one of the largest of more than 150 guaranteed-income pilot programs launched nationwide in recent years. The program was funded through the city budget and included $11 million that city leaders moved from the Police Department budget in response to nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

    Despite the positive research findings, programs like BIG:LEAP have raised concerns among some taxpayer groups.

    “It’s simply wrong for the city government to take tax dollars earned and paid by people who are trying to pay their own bills and transfer that money to other people chosen by the government to receive it,” the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. said in a statement. “Guaranteed-income programs are appropriately funded voluntarily by charitable organizations and foundations, not forcibly through the tax code.”

    Councilmember Curren Price, whose South Los Angeles district includes some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods, introduced a motion Tuesday to continue a version of the pilot with a focus on people in abusive relationships and young adults in need of mental health and emotional support.

    Price said he would contribute $1 million toward the next phase from his council funds. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez also pledged $1 million.

    Beyond that, it’s not clear where the next round of funding would come from. Price expressed hope the city would continue to support the effort through the general budget.

    “I don’t know how realistic it is that it’s going to be $40 million again,” Price said. “But I think it’s realistic that we could receive something.”

    This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.

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    Rebecca Plevin, Dakota Smith

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  • Celebrating the 34th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

    Celebrating the 34th Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

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    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 25, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    As we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 2024, it is important to acknowledge its profound impact on promoting equality and accessibility for people with disabilities. The ADA has transformed public spaces, workplaces, and transportation systems, ensuring greater inclusion and opportunities for millions. 

    However, there is a growing need to extend accessibility principles to the digital space. The growth in digital accessibility has tried to ensure that websites, applications, and digital content are usable by everyone, including those with disabilities. Yet, despite the ADA’s mandates, many digital platforms remain inaccessible, creating significant barriers to information, services, and opportunities. According to The WebAIM Million, the 2024 report on the accessibility of the top 1,000,000 home pages found that 96% of digital content may be inaccessible to people with disabilities.

    Earlier this year, Teach Access, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering educators to teach and students to learn about digital accessibility, partnered with University of Phoenix on a survey commissioned with The Harris Poll to uncover strengths and opportunities for developing accessibility skills in the workplace. The study of 459 managers across the fields of information technology, healthcare, and education to better understand workplace commitment to accessibility, workers’ understanding and skills of accessibility, and opportunities for developing accessibility skills. “Greater emphasis is now being placed on accessible digital web content and mobile apps, and we need to better understand how prepared developers and engineers are to design and deliver natively accessible content,” said Kelly Hermann, vice president for Accessibility, Equity and Inclusion at University of Phoenix.

    The survey found that only 60% of managers report their organization incorporates accessibility into all phases of product, service, and activity development. Additionally, survey findings indicated a growing need for accessibility training and skill development. Over the past five years, 59% of managers have observed increased demand for employees with accessibility skills within their organizations, with one in ten reporting a significant rise in demand. Nearly all managers—95%—expressed a need for professional development in specific accessibility skills and topics. While no single area stands out, the three most frequently mentioned topics are: incorporating disability into diversity programs (32%), the use of assistive technology by individuals with disabilities (31%), and a general understanding of disability (30%).

    Teach Access bridges the gap between accessibility and industry by offering free programs and resources, including the Teach Access Curriculum Repository developed by faculty to support teaching accessibility to students in various disciplines. Self-paced, online courses for educators on the principles of accessible design in disciplines are available, as well as Grants, student programs, and fellowships for educators. A facilitated online course also introduces educators and administrators to basic concepts related to disability, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). 

    “Digital accessibility is essential for people with disabilities as it opens up new possibilities,” said Leslie Johnson, Teach Access’s Program and Operations Manager. “If we do not educate students about disability and accessibility, we risk leaving many behind. Education ensures that technology is born accessible, creating a more inclusive world.”

    On this ADA anniversary, let us celebrate the progress made while recognizing the urgent need to advance digital accessibility education to create a digital world accessible to individuals with disabilities. 

    For more information or to support Teach Access initiatives, visit: https://teachaccess.org

    About Teach Access  
    Teach Access is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization collaborating with education, industry, government, and disability advocacy organizations to address the critical need to enhance students’ understanding of digital accessibility as they learn to design, develop, and build new technologies with the needs of people with disabilities in mind. Teach Access envisions a fully accessible future in which students enter the workforce with knowledge of the needs of people with disabilities and skills in the principles of accessible design and development, such that technology products and services are born accessible. 

    Source: Teach Access

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  • Police arrest protesters on UC Santa Cruz campus after ordering them to leave encampment

    Police arrest protesters on UC Santa Cruz campus after ordering them to leave encampment

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    Police in riot gear entered the UC Santa Cruz campus early Friday morning, arresting pro-Palestinian protesters who set up an encampment and blocked the main entrance to campus.

    Video taken after midnight showed a line of police with raised batons standing at the UC Santa Cruz encampment just a few feet from protesters who linked arms. Many protesters wore helmets and goggles and covered their faces with keffiyehs and masks.

    “Leave the area immediately,” a law enforcement officer instructed protesters. But his instructions were drowned out by the crowd.

    “Cops off campus!” the demonstrators chanted. “Glory to the martyrs!”

    A UC Santa Cruz official said in a Friday morning statement the university brought in law enforcement to disband the encampment after repeatedly instructing students — for weeks and Friday morning — to stop their “intentional and dangerous blockade of campus entrances.”

    “It is imperative that we restore full access to our campus and end other unlawful, unsafe actions as demonstrators continued to disrupt campus operations and threatened safety, even delaying access of emergency vehicles,” said Scott Hernandez-Jason, the assistant vice chancellor for communications and marketing, said. “It was impossible to do so without law enforcement intervention.”

    The standoff between protesters and law enforcement began around 1 a.m. as officers from the California Highway Patrol, Daly City, Foster City and Pacifica descended on the encampment.

    A livestream feed from Estudiantes Oaxaqueños de Ahora at UCSC showed protesters setting up wooden pallets between themselves and the officers.

    “You don’t scare us!” they chanted. “Shame!

    Police tore away the barricade and then inched closer toward the protesters.

    Livestreams from the UCSC Student Union Assembly showed law enforcement descending on the encampment in the dark, shining strobe lights on students, looking inside tents and dismantling the encampment.

    “Free, free, free Palestine,” the protesters chanted, one waving a Palestinian flag as officers approached a line of protesters.

    Police began to make arrests around 3 a.m. But two hours later, the protesters were still at the encampment, issuing calls for supporters to come to the campus and provide backup.

    “SHOW UP NOW,” Students for Justice in Palestine UC Santa Cruz said on Instagram. “5AM AND WE ARE STILL HERE. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER. GET HERE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.”

    Videos from the scene showed protesters scream as police officers engaged in altercations with protesters who resisted arrest, in one case pulling a student from the crowd by the leg. Students tried to pull those being arrested back in to their circle.

    “Don’t hurt students!” the protesters chanted. “Don’t hurt students!”

    About 7:30 a.m., a white Santa Cruz sheriff’s department transportation bus carrying protesters left campus and the crowd jeered.

    “Let them go!” they chanted.

    It was not clear how manyprotesters have been arrested. Inquiries to local law enforcement agencies were not immediately returned.

    The standoff took place after university leaders switched to remote learning this week after protesters blocked the main entrance to campus. Students have joined forces with hundreds of striking academic workers at UC Santa Cruz, who allege the University of California’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrators has violated their free speech rights.

    “We call on these protesters to immediately reopen full access to the campus and return to protesting in a manner consistent with both our community values and our student code of conduct,” university leaders wrote Thursday in a message to the campus community. “Denying instructional access is not free speech.”

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    Jenny Jarvie, Angie Orellana Hernandez

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  • Police arrest man accused of attacking UCLA protesters

    Police arrest man accused of attacking UCLA protesters

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    A pro-Israeli counterprotester was arrested Thursday morning by UCLA police, weeks after he allegedly assaulted occupants of a campus protest encampment with a wooden pole.

    According to the UCLA Police Department, detectives interviewed witnesses and victims and reviewed security camera footage from the pro-Palestinian demonstration to identify the suspect, who was not affiliated with the campus and allegedly among a group who violently attacked students, faculty and staff on April 30.

    The 18-year-old man was detained at a business in Beverly Hills and booked for felony assault with a deadly weapon, police said. He is currently being held in Los Angeles County jail on $30,000 bail. This appears to be the first arrest of a counterprotester.

    A law enforcement source confirmed to The Times that the man is Edan On, who was identified by CNN last week as a counterprotester wearing a white hoodie and a mask in widely shared images and videos that showed him repeatedly hitting a pro-Palestinian protester with the pole. On is also listed on the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department arrest log.

    “The UCLA Police Department is committed to investigating all reported acts of violence and is actively working to identify the other perpetrators of violence associated with any protest or counter-protest activities between April 25, 2024, and May 2, 2024,” the Police Department said in a statement. “The investigations are ongoing.”

    A group of student reporters were among those attacked by counterprotesters on April 30. The violence prompted an independent review of the university’s actions and law enforcement’s response to the campus unrest. Universities across the country have been disrupted by protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

    In early May, more than 200 people were arrested at UCLA as police and protesters clashed for hours.

    Campus Police Chief John Thomas was removed from his post and reassigned, officials said earlier this week, after he was criticized for security failures that led to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment. And UCLA Chancellor Gene Block was interrogated by members of Congress Thursday over his handling of complaints regarding campus antisemitism.

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    Colleen Shalby, Richard Winton

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  • Sonoma State president retires after being placed on leave for supporting anti-Israel boycott

    Sonoma State president retires after being placed on leave for supporting anti-Israel boycott

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    The president of Sonoma State University has retired from his role after being placed on leave for issuing a controversial campuswide message on the Israel-Hamas war.

    California State University chancellor Mildred Garcia said in a statement Thursday that President Ming Tung “Mike” Lee informed her of his decision to retire. Garcia placed Lee on leave for “insubordination” on Wednesday, one day after he released a message in support of a boycott against Israeli universities and said that the university would pursue “divestment strategies.” Garcia said Lee did not receive approval for the message.

    In a letter to the community, Lee apologized for the “unintended consequences of my actions” and acknowledged that his message had not been reviewed by CSU officials.

    “I want to be clear: The message was drafted and sent without the approval of, or consultation with, the Chancellor or other system leaders. The points outlined in the message were mine alone, and do not represent the views of my colleagues or the CSU,” Lee wrote.

    Amy Bentley-Smith, Cal State director of strategic communications and public affairs, said “there is no written policy” when it comes to approval from the chancellor’s office over campus leadership’s communications related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

    “The chancellor and presidents have been in constant communication during protest activities on campuses with the intent that decisions at the university level are made in consultation with the chancellor’s office and align not only with shared university values and mission, but with applicable CSU system policies, and state and federal laws,” Bentley-Smith said.

    While the university system’s 23 campus presidents report to the chancellor, they are considered the executive officers of their respective campuses and have some autonomy over campus decisions.

    Also Friday, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) sent a letter to Garcia and University of California President Michael V. Drake, calling for accountability when a campus leader appeals to “antisemitic demands of encampments.”

    “There is an urgent need for system-wide action in both the UC and CSU systems to restore order on campus, stop the adoption of [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] policies, and, where appropriate, appoint new campus leadership,” wrote Kiley, who previously called on Lee to resign.

    Other state lawmakers had raised concerns over Lee’s message. Sen. Bill Dodd’s (D-Napa) office reached out to the chancellor’s office Wednesday to ask if Garcia had approved the message, press secretary Paul Payne told The Times.

    Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) also expressed opposition.

    “This is horrific and wrong,” Wiener told KRON-4 this week.

    The chancellor said she will continue to work with acting President Nathan Evans and the Board of Trustees during this “transitional period.” In a statement to the Sonoma State community, Evans said that Lee’s retirement will not overshadow Saturday’s commencement activities.

    “We will create spaces and places to process President Lee’s retirement and other recent developments as a community in the coming days and weeks. For now, I encourage all of us to focus on our graduates and their supporters,” Evans said.

    Lee worked at Sacramento State for 28 years. He came out of a brief retirement in 2022 to become Sonoma State’s president after Judy Sakaki resigned amid outcry over sexual harassment and retaliation allegations against her and her husband.

    Times staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.

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    Colleen Shalby

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