We're halfway through the work week, which means it's time for the mid-week wrap-up of the bits and pieces of news from all over the UCLA-iverse. Since we last checked in, we saluted Lauren Cheney and her teammates for their run in the women's World Cup, got information from the new Den leadership, got a key football transfer from Vandy, kept tabs on Neuheisel's continual recruiting roll, saw four current Bruins get named to football award watch lists, discussed how DC epitomizes the Ben Ball Warrior ethos, and discussed Chip Kelly, Willie Lyles, and the NCAA.

So without further ado, here are your bits and pieces of Bruin news from around the UCLA-iverse:

• UCLA's softball team got a very early jump on recruiting for the 2014 season, getting an oral commitment from talented freshman sensation Kylee Perez from Alhambra High School (Martinez, California).  The young shortstop broke out in a big way in the East Bay, batting .628 with 9 home runs, 29 RBIs, 41 runs, and 35 stolen bases, all while helping lead her team to the North Coast Section Division II championship.
• Likewise, the women's golf team landed an early commit for the entering Class of 2013, receiving an oral commitment from highly-rated Alison Lee from Valencia High School.  Lee, ranked #8 in the American Junior Golf Association ranking, has already demonstrated her winning form, bringing in five finishes in the top five in AJGA tournaments this year.
• Once again, UCLA Medical Center was ranked as one of the nation's top hospitals, finishing in the top five nationally in U.S. News & World Report's annual hospital rankings.  In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, UCLA Medical Center finished top, beating out USC and UCI's respective medical centers.  So if you're really sick, you already know where to head: Westwood.
• In other campus news, one of the little unknown gems of UCLA is the university's role in the development of a little something known as ARPANET, which grew and developed into the modern-day internet.  In 1969, UCLA Professor Kleinrock fired off the first message between UCLA and his counterparts at Stanford (if only he would have known how easy it'd be to use those same messages to troll, spam, and otherwise pee on everyone else's snow-cone, perhaps he'd have thought twice). Soon, the Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site and Archive will open on campus in Boelter Hall for those who want to see where all of this interwebs business began.
• Following up on an earlier edition of Bruin Bites, it appears that the newly created Ching Chong Ling Long delivery service has offended the sensitive sensibilities of California Assemblyman Mike Eng of Monterey Park.  Eng, apparently with nothing better to do, wrote Chancellor Gene Block a letter urging him to take "appropriate action" against the responsible individuals who created the tongue-in-cheek business to not only bring Chinese takeout to Westwood (which is sorely needed) but to do so while combating intolerance with a bit of humor.  Mr. Eng, here's a clue: maybe you should be more concerned with fixing our state's fiscal problems (esp. given the financial cuts being made to UCLA) rather than what some folks are calling their Chinese take-out business.  Tool.
• Turning back to sports, Jon Wilner has projected UCLA to finish fourth in the new Pac-12 South this upcoming season, behind U$C, Arizona State, and Utah.  Regardless of where they finish in the conference, Neuheisel already knows it's a winning season and a bowl game or bust if he wants to stay at the helm in Westwood.
• Finally, projected starting safety Dietrich Riley took part in the NCAA Football Youth Clinic this past weekend, mentoring young kids and helping develop their skills.  Great to see him giving back to the community and making UCLA proud.

With that, those are your Bruin Bites for the middle of the work week.  Try not to work too hard and we'll see you all this weekend.  Fire away with your mid-week thoughts, nuggets of news, and opinions.

GO BRUINS