National

Sportscaster Stuart Scott Dead At 49

HOLLYWOOD—Stuart Scott, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, passed away on January 4 at the age of 49. The cause of his death was cancer. Scott was first diagnosed with appendix cancer in 2007. He started his career as a sportscaster for several different local television stations before entering ESPN in 1993. He was known for his catchphrases "Boo-Yah!," "As cool...

AirAsia Missing Flight Found At Sea

SINGAPORE—An AirAsia plane with 162 passengers and crew on board went missing on its way to Singapore at approximately 7:30 a.m. on December 27. The AirAsia plane was later found at the bottom of the sea, according to radar data. Indonesia asked the US for help in search for the missing flight. China provided aircraft and ships to help with...

Keurig Recalling 6.6 Million Coffee Makers

UNITED STATES—Keurig Green Mountain, a coffee brewing machine brand, is recalling more than 6.6 million brewing machines in the United States that could overheat liquids and be dangerous for consumers. Keurig claims its Mini Plus Brewing Systems can overheat and squirt water in the midst of brewing. According to Keurig, they had received approximately 200 reports of broiling liquid leaking...

Stephen Collins Admits Sexual Abuse

HOLLYWOOD—“7th Heaven” actor Stephen Collins, 67, admitted this week that he sexually abused three different girls between 1973 and 1994. The admission comes two months after TMZ released an audio recording of Collins confessing his secret to his estranged wife, Faye Grant. Regarding the audio recording, Collins explained, “various news organizations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant,...

Gillian Appointed Federal Judge

WASHINGTON D.C.—Haywood Gilliam, a San Francisco business lawyer, has officially been appointed a federal judge, following his nomination by President Barrack Obama and confirmation by the Senate. The president nominated Gillian back in August in order to replace Claudia Wilken in the Northern District of California. Wilken will transfer to Oakland at the end of the year. Gilliam, 45, studied at Yale...

UCLA Measures DNA With Smartphone

WESTWOOD—Researchers from UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute have devised a technique to image and measure the size of DNA molecules using an ordinary smartphone. The technique utilizes the phone’s camera in the measurement of DNA strands. The smartphone is connected by an app to a three-dimensional optical device called a mobile microscopy unit, allowing the molecules to be stretched and measured on...

Robotics Offers Revolutionary Cancer Treatment

WESTWOOD—A technique known as Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS), cancerous tumors once deemed inoperable can now be removed through a non-invasive procedure performed by a specially-trained physician. Oropharyngeal (throat) cancer, a consequence of Human papillomavirus (HPV), used to only be operable through highly invasive surgical techniques that involved going through neck or face; a procedure that required a long, sometimes...

“Superomniphobic” Texture First Of Its Kind

WESTWOOD—UCLA engineering professor Chang-Jin “C..J.”  Kim and his postdoctoral student, Tingyi “Leo” Liu, have invented a new, “superomniphobic” surface texture that is impervious to all liquids, regardless of what the surface is made of. Facilitated by cutting edge nanoscale technology, the team of the engineers refined a method of etching flathead nail-shaped patterns into a surface, thereby causing it to repel...

Clinton’s University Appearance Draws Criticism

WESTWOOD—In March, former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton paid a visit to Westwood, lecturing at UCLA's Royce Hall before engaging in a 40-minute question-answer discussion with the audience. As Clinton leads-up to a possible 2016 presidential campaign, a Washington Post article revealed the details of a communication between university officials and Clinton's brass, information obtained under the...

Ferguson Grand Jury Finds No Conclusions

FERGUSON, MO—A Missouri grand jury declined to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson on November 24 in the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9. Brown, an 18-year-old African-American man was unarmed when he was killed. St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch read the grand jury’s finding that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial on any...