Jan. 24 - Campus housing and in-person instruction updates
Section 1
Art glass: A glowing sunrise reflects off Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences. Photo by Ian Parker
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
Changes to Google Workspace service begin Tuesday
As part of an ongoing security initiative, the Office of Information Technology is making changes to the UCI Google Workspace service. Affecting all Google users, the changes that begin Tuesday are intended to further protect accounts from unauthorized access.
In-person instruction resumes Jan. 31
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Hal Stern announced plans to resume in-person instruction in a message to the UCI community. “Given the high value we all place on in-person instruction, it is vitally important that each one of us continue to adhere to the public health measures and protocols put in place,” he writes. The 500+ positive cases on campus last week were approximately half of what was reported the week before.
Returning to campus housing updates
Student Housing welcomes those who have returned to campus or will do so in the coming week while also providing important information regarding “test and sequester” procedures. The same information was shared in a Jan. 10 campus email.
Distinguished Professor and team show poverty reduction impacts infant brain activity
School of Education Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan was among the principal investigators of research showing that after one year of monthly cash support for low-income families, 1-year-olds exhibited brain activity patterns associated with the development of higher cognitive skills. Initial findings from “Baby’s First Years,” the first clinical trial in the U.S. to assess the impact of poverty reduction on family life and infant and toddlers’ cognitive, emotional and brain development, were published today in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.
UCR joins UCI and UC San Diego in CALIT2
The UC Office of the President has approved adding UC Riverside to the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (CALIT2), whose founding members are UCI and UC San Diego. The state created the multidisciplinary CALIT2 more than 20 years ago to ensure California remains on the leading edge of information technology, communications and other 21st-century technologies. “The addition of UC Riverside will help us reinforce a more powerful technology ecosystem stretching across four contiguous counties in Southern California,” says Chancellor Howard Gillman, co-principal investigator of CALIT2.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
Applicants sought for 2023-24 student regent to serve on UC governing board
The student regent is a full voting member of the board, representing students across the university’s 10-campus system. All UC students are eligible for this life-changing opportunity, which comes with a stipend and a waiver for all systemwide tuition and fees during the two-year term of service. The deadline to apply is March 22.
Omicron spread could end ‘emergency phase’ of pandemic
According to a statement released by the World Health Organization today, the coronavirus pandemic is entering a "new phase" and the rapid spread of the omicron variant could offer "plausible hope" for return to more normalcy in the months ahead. Dr. Hans Kluge, the director of the WHO's European region, warned that it was too early for nations to drop their guard but that between vaccinations and natural immunity through infection, "omicron offers plausible hope for stabilization and normalization."
Cruise ship industry again rocked by COVID-19 infections
The number of cases recorded among cruise ship passengers and crew between Dec. 15 and 29 was 5,013, compared with 162 in the previous two-week period. Operators say the infections are a fraction of the number of cases reported earlier in the pandemic, but industry analysts say elevated case counts could once again depress demand.
Trials seek new drug combinations to thwart virus mutations
There are currently 18 COVID trials aiming to enroll more than 100 people for testing combinations of antivirals, according to a Jan. 7 analysis from Airfinity in London. Researchers worry the virus will figure out a way to evade new pills, prompting efforts to look for signs of such resistance and find drug combinations to stop it.
EVENTS
GRE Test Prep Workshop with ETS
Wednesday, 4 p.m. (sponsored by Social Sciences Academic Resource Center)
Centennial: 100 Years of Charles Mingus
Wednesday, 5 p.m. (sponsored by UCI Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.
Number of patients hospitalized ‘with COVID’ vs. ‘for COVID’ is shifting
The Orange County Register, Jan. 21
Cited: Shruti Gohil, associate medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention
Amid housing crunch, officials want Orange County to stay the way it is
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 22
Cited: Jan Brueckner, Distinguished Professor of economics
Blood Donation: Who Can Do It, How Often You Can Give, and Everything Else You Need to Know
Health, Jan. 19
Cited: Minh-Ha Tran, clinical professor of pathology