NEWS IN BRIEF
David Lumb, Maxine Wally, and Tiffany Liu | Jan 10, 2010 | Comments 2
UCIPD to Hold Sobriety/ License Checkpoint on Thursday
The UC Irvine Police Department will be conducting a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint on the UC Irvine Campus during the evening hours of Thursday January 14, 2010. The exact location and the hours will be announced shortly before the checkpoint operations begin.
The purpose of the checkpoint is to deter the impaired driver by publicity surrounding the event, and by the highly visible presence of sworn officers at the location of the checkpoint. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) estimates that communities which consistently use sobriety checkpoints experience as much as 8 times the reduction in DUI incidence as communities which use roving patrols alone. Checkpoints have been highly effective in educating the public to the hazards of impaired driving. According to MADD, in one survey, 79% of the public approved of sobriety checkpoints.
The checkpoint will be clearly marked, and vehicles will be selected to be checked on a pre-set basis to ensure objectivity. Motorists will be greeted and given an informational brochure on impaired driving. Driver’s licenses will be checked, and trained officers will direct impaired drivers to a secondary check area for further evaluation. Most motorists will experience little delay, if any at all.
Support for this project has been given by the UC Irvine Health Education Center Campus Community Alcohol Management Project (CCAMP). Volunteers from CCAPM will be present at the checkpoint providing valuable alcohol awareness information. The UC Irvine Police Department would like to thank Leigh Poirier Ball (UC Irvine Health Education Center Associate Director and CCAMP Project Director) for her support and assistance with this project.
Illuminating Chemical Reactions With Fluorescence
On Tuesday, January 12, the 2009-10 Discover the Physical Sciences Breakfast Lecture Series will be continuing with Suzanne Blum, assistant professor of chemistry.
Her lecture, titled “Glowing Molecules Show How Chemical Reactions Work,” will be giving a lecture discussing a fluorescence technique she has developed.
The technique helps increase chemists’ understanding of the mechanisms of chemical reactions by making the reactive molecules glow. This method will ultimately help them better understand how to design reactions that produce fewer toxic byproducts and consume less energy.
The event will be taking place from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Student Center’s Doheny Beach rooms A and B. It is free and open to the public. A complimentary breakfast will be served.
An Exploration in Alternate Forms of Transportation
With its long, sprawling avenues and multitude of cars speeding down the well-paved roads, Irvine presents itself as a city that isn’t very conducive to bike riding.
To Adonia Lugo, however, the barrier between two wheels and four is slowly coming down. As an anthropology doctoral student, Lugo utilizes public transportation to get back and forth from Los Angeles to Irvine – a daunting commute for most, but considered by Lugo to be simply another opportunity to advocate less automobile driving.
After a trip to Bogota, Colombia, where Lugo observed numerous alternative forms of transport and the bike paths (or ciclovia) painted expressly for bikers, she decided to create cicLAvia, a circle of bicyclists, artists and other enthusiasts who rally to take cars off the road permanently.
Lugo is also a member of the LA County Bicycle Coalition, and has worked on the City of Lights project – a group that has donated over 500 bike lights to low-income riders.
Drake to Hold Meetings with Students and Faculty
In light of last quarter’s protests, Chancellor Michael Drake has agreed to hold an open forum this Wednesday, Jan. 13 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Humanities Instructional Building. The forum is a result of requests from students for open dialogue between the over 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students at UCI and Chancellor Drake, who some protestors see as an intermediary between the students and UC Regents.
No agenda has been created as student leaders want to leave the forum as open as possible.
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Everyone knows that DWI checkpoints in southern CA are just a cover for immigration operations. Announcing the checkpoints ahead of time is meant to intimidate immigrants.
Wrong again. The simple fact is that checkpoints are largely wastes of police resources and taxpayer money — not to mention unjustified invasions of privacy. This is confirmed by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studies, which conclude that “the number of DWI arrests made by the roving patrol program was nearly three times the average number of DWI arrests made by the checkpoint programs”. If 79 percent thinks that roadblocks are ok; it shows that 79 percent of the public is stupid when it comes to their civil rights in my opinion.