Langley to leave for Georgetown job

Vice Chancellor of External Relations James M. Langley has announced his intention to leave at the end of the academic year to take over as vice president for alumni and university relations at Georgetown University.

“Although his commitment to UCSD remains steadfast, this is an opportunity that rarely comes along,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox stated in a campuswide e-mail announcing Langley’s resignation.

As vice chancellor, Langley has helped the campus double its annual total of private donations and has led the university’s “Imagine What’s Next” campaign for $1 billion in gifts — an effort that is two-thirds of the way complete. More recently, Langley also spearheaded the campus’ failed efforts to raise private money to pay for the rebuilding of University House, the official residence of the chancellor.

“Although I have only worked with him for the last nine months, I immediately knew the impact he had made on UCSD upon meeting him,” Fox stated. “His tireless efforts and advocacy on external relations have built the solid foundation that we will use to move forward in implementing our vision for UCSD.”

Langley’s replacement has not yet been announced.

State committee passes video game bill

Backed by a coalition of Girl Scouts, parents, psychiatrists and legal experts, the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to approve a bill that would restrict the sale of “ultra-violent” video games to children.

“The Judiciary Committee spoke loud and clear today that this bill is not only the right thing to do to protect our children, but it is constitutional as well,” Speaker Pro-Tem Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/Daly City) stated in a press release.

Yee sponsored the legislation.

The bipartisan 8-0 vote will mean that the measure will likely move on to another committee before facing the full Assembly. The legislation would prohibit the sale and rental of video games that show injuries to humans “in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.” It would apply to customers 16 years of age or younger.

Under the plan, violators would face a fine of up to $1,000.

The entertainment industry spent significant amounts on lobbying efforts in an attempt to defeat the bill, according to Yee.

Students optimistic about finances

College upperclassmen are more optimistic about next year’s economy than older adults, and have a better financial outlook than they did last year, a second annual survey by financial literacy program City Credit-ED has shown.

In the poll, juniors and seniors said they were confident about achieving early financial independence, though they expected salaries no higher than those surveyed last year.

The data also showed that students said they were more likely to spend their post-graduation disposable income on “instant gratification buys” instead of planning for their retirement.

Overall, 42 percent of upperclassmen said they planned to live a comfortable lifestyle with little or no debt as early as three years after graduation. This number was seven percent higher than a year ago.

In addition, only 22 percent said they would save or invest money left over after expenses, down by almost a third from last year.

Nobel laureate to deliver physics lecture

UC Santa Barbara physics professor David Gross, who received the 2004 Nobel Prize for his work on explaining how the nuclei of atoms work, will deliver this year’s annual physics department lecture. Scheduled for 4 p.m. on April 21 in the medical school’s Basic Science Building, the event is free and open to the public.

The annual talk is organized to honor the memory of Norman Kroll, a pioneer in quantum physics and founding member of the campus’ physics department.

In 1973, Gross solved the remaining problems in what is known as the “Standard Model” of quantum mechanical picture of reality.

Students support savings accounts

Almost 70 percent of college students said they were concerned that Social Security would not pay them benefits when they retire, and more than half said they would favor private savings accounts, according to a survey from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.

In the poll, Social Security ranked second after war as students’ primary issue of concern.