Tag: university

Ex-UCLA gynecologist found guilty in LA sex abuse case

LOS ANGELES — A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles was found guilty Thursday of five counts of sexually abusing female patients, in a criminal case that came after the university system made nearly $700 million in lawsuit payouts.

The Los Angeles jury found Dr. James Heaps, a longtime UCLA campus gynecologist, not guilty of seven of the 21 counts and were deadlocked on the remaining charges.

In the wake of the scandal that erupted in 2019 following the doctor’s arrest, UCLA agreed to pay nearly $700 million in lawsuit settlements to hundreds of Heaps’ patients — a record amount by a public university amid a wave of sexual misconduct scandals by campus doctors in recent years.

Heaps, 65, had pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. He has denied wrongdoing.

Heaps was indicted last year on multiple counts each of sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation.

The jury delivered a guilty verdict on three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. He was found not guilty of seven other counts of sexual battery and penetration, as well as one count of sexual exploitation. The jury was hung on the nine remaining counts, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial for those charges.

It was not immediately clear whether the district attorney’s office plans to refile the case on the deadlocked counts.

Heaps’ attorney and the district attorney’s office did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.

“The horrible abuse he perpetrated on cancer patients and others who trusted him as their doctor has been exposed and justice was done,” attorney John Manly, who represented more than 200 women in civil cases against Heaps and UCLA, said in a statement after the verdict.

Sex abuse by doctors on college campuses has led to massive settlements at Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University.

UCLA’s payouts exceed a $500 million settlement by Michigan State University in 2018 that was considered the largest by a public university. The University of Southern California, a private institution, has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle thousands of cases against the school’s longtime gynecologist, who still faces a criminal trial in Los Angeles.

UCLA patients said Heaps groped them, made suggestive comments or conducted unnecessarily invasive exams during his 35-year career. Women who brought the lawsuits said the university ignored their complaints and deliberately concealed abuse that happened for decades during examinations at the UCLA student health center, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or in Heaps’ campus office.

UCLA acknowledged it received a sex abuse complaint against Heaps from a patient in December 2017 and it launched an investigation the following month that concluded she was sexually assaulted and harassed, attorneys said.

Heaps, however, continued to practice until his retirement in June 2018. The university did not release its finding in the investigation until November 2019 — months after Heaps was arrested.

“UCLA Health is grateful for the patients who came forward,” the university said in a statement after the verdict. “Sexual misconduct of any kind is reprehensible and intolerable. Our overriding priority is providing the highest quality care while ensuring that patients feel safe, protected and respected.”

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October 20, 2022
Federal judge dismisses effort by 6 states to halt student-debt forgiveness plan

ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in St. Louis on Thursday dismissed an effort by six Republican-led states to block the Biden administration’s plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.

U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey wrote that because the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — failed to establish they had standing, “the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case.”

Suzanne Gage, spokeswoman for Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, said the states will appeal. She said in a statement that the states “continue to believe that they do in fact have standing to raise their important legal challenges.”

Democratic President Joe Biden announced in August that his administration would cancel up to $20,000 in education debt for huge numbers of borrowers. The announcement immediately became a major political issue ahead of the November midterm elections.

The states’ lawsuit is among a few that have been filed. Earlier Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected an appeal from a Wisconsin taxpayers group seeking to stop the debt cancellation program.

Barrett, who oversees emergency appeals from Wisconsin and neighboring states, did not comment in turning away the appeal from the Brown County Taxpayers Association. The group wrote in its Supreme Court filing that it needed an emergency order because the administration could begin canceling outstanding student debt as soon as Sunday.

In the lawsuit brought by the states, lawyers for the administration said the Department of Education has “broad authority to manage the federal student financial aid programs.” A court filing stated that the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act, allows the secretary of education to waive or modify terms of federal student loans in times of war or national emergency.

“COVID-19 is such an emergency,” the filing stated.

The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades. James Campbell, an attorney for the Nebraska attorney general’s office, told Autrey at an Oct. 12 hearing that the administration is acting outside its authorities in a way that will cost states millions of dollars.

The plan would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, will get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.

Conservative attorneys, Republican lawmakers and business-oriented groups have asserted that Biden overstepped his authority in taking such sweeping action without the assent of Congress. They called it an unfair government giveaway for relatively affluent people at the expense of taxpayers who didn’t pursue higher education.

Chris Nuelle, spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, said the plan “will unfairly burden working class families with even more economic woes.”

Many Democratic lawmakers facing tough reelection contests have distanced themselves from the plan.

The HEROES Act was enacted after 9/11 to help members of the military. The Justice Department says the law allows Biden to reduce or erase student loan debt during a national emergency. Republicans argue the administration is misinterpreting the law, in part because the pandemic no longer qualifies as a national emergency.

Justice Department attorney Brian Netter told Autrey that fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is still rippling. He said student loan defaults have skyrocketed over the past 2 1/2 years.

The cancellation applies to federal student loans used to attend undergraduate and graduate school, along with Parent Plus loans. Current college students qualify if their loans were disbursed before July 1.

The plan makes 43 million borrowers eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who could get their debt erased entirely, according to the administration.

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October 20, 2022
University Of California, Berkeley Prepares To Offer Nicki Minaj Course In 2023

The university will offer an African American studies course named in the rapper’s honor during the spring 2023 semester, the course’s professor – Peace And Love El Henson – confirmed on Twitter.

Minaj responded to a tweet about the course on Thursday and expressed interest in dropping by a lecture.

“I’d love to stop by,” Minaj wrote.

The professor, a Black studies collaboratory postdoctoral fellow who goes by she/they pronouns, thanked Minaj for her response and added that the “class is interested in thinking critically about [Minaj] and [her] productions [within] the context of broader historical-social structures [and] hip hop feminisms.”

They later thanked Minaj’s fans, also known as the Barbz, for their love and interest in the class.

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October 8, 2022
Oldest Teeth Ever Found In China Fish Fossil Catch

NEW YORK (AP) — A big catch of fish fossils in southern China includes the oldest teeth ever found — and may help scientists learn how our aquatic ancestors got their bite.

The finds offer new clues about a key period of evolution that’s been hard to flesh out because until now scientists haven’t found many fossils from that era. In a series of four studies, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers detail some of their finds, from ancient teeth to never-before-seen species.

The fossils date back to the Silurian period, an important era for life on earth from 443 million years ago to 419 million years ago. Scientists believe our backboned ancestors, who were still swimming around on a watery planet, may have started evolving teeth and jaws around this time.

This let the fish hunt for prey instead of “grubbing around” as bottom feeders, filtering out food from the muck. It also sparked a series of other changes in their anatomy, including different kinds of fins, said Philip Donoghue, a University of Bristol paleontologist and an author on o ne of the studies.

“It’s just at this interface between the Old World and the New World,” Donoghue said.

But in the past, scientists haven’t found many fossils to show this shift, said Matt Friedman, a University of Michigan paleontologist who was not involved in the research. They’ve been relying on fragments from the time — a chunk of spine here, a bit of scale there.

The fossils from China are expected to fill in some of those gaps as researchers around the world pore over them.

A field team discovered the fossil trove in 2019, Min Zhu, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who led the research, said in an email. On a rainy day, after a frustrating trip that hadn’t revealed any fossils, researchers explored a pile of rocks near a roadside cliff. When they split one rock open, they found fossilized fish heads looking back at them.

After hauling more rocks back to the lab for examination, the research team wound up with a huge range of fossils that were in great condition for their age.

The most common species in the bunch is a little boomerang-shaped fish that likely used its jaws to scoop up worms, said Per Erik Ahlberg of Sweden’s Uppsala University, an author on one of the studies.

Another fossil shows a sharklike creature with bony armor on its front — an unusual combination. A well-preserved jawless fish offers clues to how ancient fins evolved into arms and legs. While fossil heads for these fish are commonly found, this fossil included the whole body, Donoghue said.

And then there are the teeth. The researchers found bones called tooth whorls with multiple teeth growing on them. The fossils are 14 million years older than any other teeth found from any species — and provide the earliest solid evidence of jaws to date, Zhu said.

Alice Clement, an evolutionary biologist at Australia’s Flinders University who was not involved with the research, said the fossil find is “remarkable” and could rewrite our understanding of this period.

The wide range of fossils suggests there were plenty of toothy creatures swimming around at this time, Clement said in an email, even though it’s the next evolutionary era that is considered the “Age of Fishes.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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September 29, 2022
Publication Academy Receives Grant to Provide Academic, Technical, & Grant Writing Training for Templeton World Charity Foundation

Press Release
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Sep 22, 2022

RESTON, Va., September 22, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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Publication Academy is excited to have the opportunity to continue providing best-in-class online training programs for a third consecutive year for grantees of the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. (TWCF), a private foundation supporting diverse researchers around the world in discovering new knowledge, developing new tools, and launching new innovations that make a lasting impact on human flourishing.

As part of TWCF’s newly launched strategy to support new scientific research on human flourishing and to translate related discoveries into practical tools, Publication Academy will provide grantees with access to three customized curricula developed on its premiere training platform: (1) the TWCF Academic Writing Course, (2) the TWCF Technical Communication Course, and (3) the TWCF Grant Writing & Management Course. These hybrid courses will provide TWCF grantees with 24/7 access to over 90 hours of video-based On Demand programming, group-based live webinar coaching sessions every two weeks, and “Office Hour” sessions for grantees to receive 1-on-1 guidance.

Publication Academy’s courses will accelerate the pace at which discoveries move through the strategic pipeline by empowering TWCF grantees to successfully disseminate their project findings through academic publications (peer-reviewed journal articles, edited book chapters, conference presentations) and technical communications (social media and blog posts, digital newsletters, podcasts, press releases, and more). In addition, the courses will help support re-investment in currently funded projects by training grantees in how to find new external funding opportunities and then to write successful grant proposals.

The custom curricula developed for TWCF over the past two years have resulted in a significant increase in scholarly productivity across professions and cultural backgrounds. An analysis conducted in August 2021 found that participants in the TWCF Academic Writing Course tripled their total peer-reviewed publication output since the course was offered. Individual participants saw an increase of between 50% to over 500% in their rates of publication, with course completers consistently reporting that the programming contributed to achieving their personal goals and enhancing their professional expertise.

According to one grantee, a Professor of Education in El Salvador who completed the TWCF Academic Writing Course in 2021: “Before taking this course, I thought I understood how publication worked. Now having completed my Publication Academy course this year, I realize the gap in knowledge between what I thought I knew before and what actually must be done to get a paper published. The experience of having an instructor to ask advice from, the tips that he gave us, and the blueprints and exemplars that he provided us have really become essential in achieving my academic and professional goals.”

Media Contact

Ginger Tett (gingertett@publicationacademy.com)

Source: Publication Academy, Inc.

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September 22, 2022
Free 5-Day Virtual College Prep-A-Thon Featuring Workshops and Mentorship Led by Top-Tier University Admissions, Graduates, and Students

An Innovative Approach to Empower Underserved Students, Hosted by First Gen Support

Press Release
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Jul 26, 2022

CHICAGO, July 26, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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Higher education is more important to financial stability now more than ever as the bachelor’s degree (BA) now accounts for 56 percent of all good jobs, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. However, students from underserved communities are not being afforded the same college preparation opportunities as their affluent peers as they face systemic barriers to college readiness, including lack of institutional support and adequate resources.

First Gen Support (FGS), a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded through a grant by Cornell University, is dedicated to empowering first-generation, low-income, and immigrant (FGLI) students to successfully navigate high school and achieve college readiness. Set to launch its first annual College Prep-A-Thon Aug. 2-6, 2022, FGS has made this prep-a-thon unique in its interactive experience by combining elements of past FGS mentorship programs and last year’s college fair. Students will have the chance to learn from speakers and mentors from college prep programs and top universities such as UPenn, Stanford, Harvard, and Cornell. The FGS College Prep-A-Thon seeks to foster a supportive and competitive environment filled with incentives to ensure students finish daily challenges for college readiness. This event is open to all high school students for free. More information can be found here at this link.

Featuring 30+ college mentors, 10+ speakers, and 400+ signups, FGS is looking for 1,000+ student signups, 50+ college students as mentors, and donors/sponsors to sponsor prizes and the future operations of FGS.

As a first-generation immigrant, FGS founder Julia Sun (Cornell ’25) found that college preparation opportunities were not built equal, especially for lower-income and first-generation students. Inspired by the Black Lives Matters movement, she witnessed the socio-economic inequities and realized the staggering challenges that encompass finding college preparation resources, especially for students whose parents did not go to college. Julia gathered passionate changemakers across the nation to empower under-resourced students to know that college is accessible. To learn more about how FGS began, click here.

First Gen Support is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) organization with multiple advisors from top universities. Are you a rising college student? Do you have experience in higher education as a low-income, first-gen or immigrant student? Are you interested in partnering with First Gen Support to bring resources to underserved students? Or are you simply a student who wants to learn more about applying to colleges? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, learn more at this link.

First Gen Support relies on donations to get the word out, fund programming and connect with more students. Please visit the FGS website for more information.

For more information on First Gen Support or visuals regarding the event, please contact Cyntia Roig at cyntia@firstgensupport.org or 786-295-7246.

Source: First Gen Support

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July 26, 2022
University in Escondido Finishes Production on Feature Film

‘O, Brawling Love!’ — the first project in John Paul the Great Catholic University’s Feature Film Program — finished filming on Tuesday

Press Release
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Jun 30, 2022

ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 30, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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O, Brawling Love!, the first project in John Paul the Great Catholic University’s Feature Film Program, finished filming on Tuesday. The film was shot in Escondido, California, using locations such as Escondido Charter High School, Grape Day Park, and the university’s soundstage. Over 50 JPCatholic students, along with several alumni, were involved both on and off set.

Prof. George Simon, Chair of Communications Media, is spearheading JPCatholic’s Feature Film Program. He announced the initiative last year as a way to integrate feature film productions into the curriculum, providing students the opportunity to collaborate with alumni and professors each year in bringing a new film to life.

“This program is made possible by the talent, creativity, and passion of our students,” he said. “Every day on set, these filmmakers set a standard of excellence and professionalism that is truly remarkable. We all knew it was possible to pull off a feature film with our students, but they didn’t just pull it off, they knocked it out of the park.”

As previously announced, JPCatholic’s faculty selected O, Brawling Love! from a pool of nearly 50 student and alumni pitches. An original story by senior screenwriting student Bella Lake, the script is about two rival acting students who are forced to reconcile their differences and play lovers Romeo and Juliet in their final school play, vying for a $25,000 cash prize.

The film was directed by JPCatholic alumna Maggie Mahrt (’10), whose resume includes work for Disney Digital, Paramount Studio, and NBC. In 2016, she was selected as one of eight women by the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, through which she wrote and directed the award-winning short film Unbound.

Since January, students and faculty have been busy with courses on story development and pre-production applied directly to planning the project. Production spanned June 2-28, taking place primarily during the break between Spring and Summer quarter.

Several students also acted in the project, including senior acting student John Howard who was cast as the male lead. He participated in the blind audition process with Mahrt, and was selected from a pool of over 50 candidates from both inside and outside the school. “Starring in a feature film was a big step up from acting in short films,” he said. “It was a welcome and rewarding challenge.”

With production complete, Prof. Melinda Simon will lead a team of students this quarter in editing the project. Like previous stages of the film, the post-production experience is a class students are taking for credit. When the film is completed in late 2022 or early 2023, the university will seek distribution.

John Paul the Great Catholic University describes itself as “The Catholic University for Creative Arts and Business Innovation,” focusing on combining hands-on programs such as film, animation, graphic design, acting, and business entrepreneurship with a Catholic liberal arts education in theology, philosophy, and humanities. Launched in 2006 in the Scripps Ranch community of San Diego, JPCatholic relocated to a permanent campus in downtown Escondido in 2013 and has been accredited with WSCUC since 2015. JPCatholic operates on a year-round quarter system, with students earning a bachelor’s degree in just three years.

More information can be found at www.jpcatholic.edu.

Source: John Paul the Great Catholic University

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June 30, 2022
SOAR Commits $250K to First Female Scholarship Program

SOAR Texas announces a new program to provide funding, mentorship, and support to female leaders pursuing higher education. The first of the $250,000 in scholarship funds will be awarded this year as five $10,000 scholarships.

Press Release
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Feb 20, 2022

AUSTIN, Texas, February 20, 2022 (Newswire.com)
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SOAR Texas is proud to announce it has committed $250,000 to its annual scholarship program. This program provides scholarships to outstanding female students who are the future leaders of their schools, communities, and businesses.

Five students will be selected for the program each year to receive a $10,000 scholarship. The recipient will have access to continuing education, professional development, and mentoring throughout their college or graduate school experience. As new scholarship recipients are chosen each year, previous recipients will be invited to continue with their group. They will provide mentorship to the new recipients and continue to benefit from the ongoing relationships these circles will build.

This application opens February 22, 2022 and closes April 19, 2022 12:00 p.m. (Noon) CST.

For more information and eligibility details, visit https://lawofficeofamberrussell.com/soar or contact us, Contact@LOARtexas.com; and follow Law Office of Amber Russell PLLC (LOAR) on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for more announcements.

Source: SOAR Texas

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February 20, 2022