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Wednesday afternoon means two things: half-way to the weekend and time for the mid-week edition of Bruin Bites. The coming weekend will give us (the exasperated Bruin faithful) and our football team (the maddeningly inconsistent Neuheisel squad) a needed rest. For Rick's team, it gives them some time to heal and hopefully return some key contributors to the depleted secondary before they take on the reeling Wildcats on Thursday night in a nationally televised WWL game. For us, it gives us a chance to take in a Saturday of college football without the stress of the up-and-down life of UCLA football.
With that, let's turn to the bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:
- Speaking of football, the Denver Post has a pretty good Q&A with their new starting safety, our own favorite former Bruin safety, Rahim Moore. Rahim talks about growing up in tough South Central L.A., how important family is to him, and how his most awesome college memory was taking the field for UCLA in front of his mom for the first time against Tennessee in the Rose Bowl.
- Moving on to the academic side, UCLA neuroscience researchers discovered that changes in our synaptic strength in response to external learning stimuli actually has an optimal "rhythm" which they believe will lead to new strategies and techniques for treating individuals with learning disorders.
- Turning back to sports, Sporting News has a preview of LJ's upcoming season, a season that he is excited to show what he can do without being hampered by the nagging wrist injury from last season. And, in words that will warm any Bruin basketball fan's heart (and instantly remind folks of JF's similar comment), LJ says he has his sights solely on bringing a national title back to Westwood.
- Flipping back to academics, UCLA researchers announced a major breakthrough in the on-going battle to find a cure for HIV/AIDS. A team from the UCLA AIDS Institute, led by Ronald Mitsuyasu, developed a gene therapy technique that some are describing as a "functional cure" for HIV infection, whereby the new technique would allow patients to maintain their immunity levels without the need for daily (and expensive) HIV drug regimens. While not an actual cure, it would effectively destroy the development of AIDS if this technique can permit patients to maintain their immunity despite an HIV infection. Very exciting development.
- Finally, UCLA is considering permitting students to request co-ed roommates, beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year. In a move welcomed by the LGBT community, the university is strongly considering following the trend of other schools in allowing co-ed or gender-neutral roommate policies for on-campus housing. Currently, there is a one-room pilot program somewhere on campus, which according to the Daily Bruin, has yet to experience any issues. If this comes to fruition, it'd certainly be an interesting development and option for current students to consider.
Alright folks, those are your short-and-sweet Bruin Bites for the middle of this fall week. Fire away with your thoughts, comments, and additions.
GO BRUINS