Monday, May 25

Bruins give back through volunteer work

Students bused to 10 different locations on campus and throughout the Los Angeles area as part of the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Community Service Commission’s 10th annual Day of Service on Saturday. Read more...

Photo:

Second-year nursing student Jorge Lopez washes walls at the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles. He and about 450 other UCLA students traveled across the city on Saturday to participate in the 10th Annual Day of Service, put on by USAC’s Community Service Commission.



TEDxUCLA brings people, ideas together

The conference took the same format as other TEDx and TEDTalks with 18-minute speeches from artists, professors and other members from UCLA and the greater Los Angeles community. Read more...

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UCLA assistant professor of integrative biology and physiology Amy Rowat spoke at the TEDxUCLA conference on Saturday.



Halloween feature: Bruins tell stories of specters and spooks (audio)

Things that go 'thump' in the night

A student is spending a Saturday evening at a friend's house, waiting out a storm, when she hears a thump upstairs.

"Things that go 'thump' in the night"
A fright in the basement

A student finds himself in the basement of Macgowan Hall in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at night, with a collection of old artifacts.

"A fright in the basement"
A roommate's disappearing act

A roommate appears to go missing from her bed at 4 a.m. Then it turns out she hadn’t been sleeping there.

"A roommate's disappearing act"
A chilling camping trip

Two young men went camping in the woods. It was supposed to be a normal trip "“ but then they heard a strange sound outside the tent.

"A chilling camping trip"
A hostel off the beaten path

A backpacking trip to Barcelona takes a strange turn into a hostel down a dark alley.

"A hostel off the beaten path"
An unsettling taxi ride

A businessman flags down a taxi late at night and strikes up small talk with the taxi driver. Then the driver says something unsettling. Melody Wang, a third-year applied linguistics student, tells a story she heard from her uncle.

"An unsettling taxi ride"
Filipino folklore, part I: An unsettled spirit

According to Filipino tradition, when a person passes away, the family must leave their doors open for three days after the death in order for the deceased's spirit to become comfortable and welcome in the afterlife. The year after fourth-year student Julia Chan's grandmother passed away, her family forgot to unlock the door.

"Filipino folklore, part I: An unsettled spirit"
Filipino folklore, part II: The creatures that haunt

Nenita Domingo, a professor of Filipino language and culture, grew up in the Philippines hearing stories from adults about the creatures that haunt Filipino living rooms and countrysides, from a half-horse, half-man residing in the forest, to shape-shifters, to creatures that make you lose weight.

"Filipino folklore, part II: The creatures that haunt"
Mexican folklore: The legend of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman)

A love-stricken woman named Maria drowns her children in the river and is condemned to wander the earth for eternity. Fourth-year anthropology student Cinela Iziz tells the ghost story of Mexican folklore.

"Mexican folklore: The legend of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman)"
UCLA legends: The specter of Royce Hall (Patrick Wen)

In a certain wing of Royce Hall late at night, some have said they’ve heard ghostly footsteps in the hallway, or seen the apparition of a young woman in traditional German clothing.

Patrick Wen, a lecturer in the Scandinavian studies department, tells us the legend of the building’s haunt.

"UCLA legends: The specter of Royce Hall (Patrick Wen)"
The eve of all hallows: Halloween origins and myths (Henry A. Kelly)

The eve of all hallows, or Halloween, is thought to be a night when witches, devils and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their midnight errands. Henry A. Kelly, a professor emeritus of English who specializes in medieval and renaissance literature and history, talks about the origins of the holiday and the myths surrounding it.

"The eve of all hallows: Halloween origins and myths (Henry A. Kelly)"

Stories of the frightening and supernatural are as much a part of Halloween as costumes and pumpkin-carving. Read more...