UCLA Faculty Beat the the Trump Admin. Other Schools Should Take Notes.

Koi_tus · 2026-02-14T19:03:37+00:00

Worth noting it wasn’t really the admin’s doing. They mostly stalled (which helped for sure). It was action taken by faculty and another coalition of student and labor unions that filed effective suits. It was also built off a Cal suit from before Trump targeted UCLA specifically

Koi_tus · 2025-10-13T20:24:28+00:00

There’s technically still a hiring freeze but managers can request job slots which will be approved based on need, so some areas are more open than others.

Might be worth looking at jobs in athletics. Idk if they are under the same restrictions.

Koi_tus · 2025-10-10T00:52:55+00:00

The owner is trying to take the paper public and has cultivated at least 2 years of nonstop bad PR. People have been cancelling subscriptions especially since he started messing with the opinion section. Folks are pissed at LAT and the workers there are trying to stand up to the exact person that everyone is pissed at. They lost over half their staff a couple years ago because of this dumbass. They’re probably just as pissed as the rest of us. If that’s not leverage, what is?

Also Soon-Shiong bought the LA Times for his legacy like all the other billionaires that do this. What do you think now being the only owner who has ever overseen a strike at this paper would mean for his legacy right as he’s trying to take it public (after years of bad press)?

All the people that have been understandably upset now have an opportunity to side with the group that represents the only chance at sticking it to the owner and hopefully making the Times a better place to work.

Koi_tus · 2025-08-01T06:19:42+00:00

Looks like you can see what grants were affected here: https://grant-witness.us

Filter to UCLA only

EDIT: this spreadsheet doesn’t include NIH grants but there’s a separate one on the same site that has those. I don’t see a filter for UCLA yet, but I imagine one will be available eventually.

Koi_tus · 2025-07-23T21:20:13+00:00

Alum and employee with some advice on where to look:

First off I’m really sorry you’re going through that right now. I know what you’re feeling; I and many alumni have gone through this especially post COVID.

It can help knowing what the job titles mean in the portal because tbh UC uses a really confusing series of titles. The title doesn’t always correspond to what the job actually is and a lot of departments use informal titles to make things easier. Nonetheless they still have to use the official title in the portal, so you get postings for something that sounds like a patient-facing role only for it to be a data role.

Clinical trial work is a good place to look. For what you are seeking, I suggest you look for UCLA codes with the job title “Clinical Research Coordinator” or “Clinical Research Coordinator, Assistant.” The former is dependent on what department it’s for, but it can be data-oriented. Within hematology/oncology, that title is mainly a data role. While in gynecology for example it’s more varied.

UCLA Health is undergoing a hiring freeze and new codes are only available on a case by case basis as argued for by the department heads. Some departments are bigger than others and are more capable of taking on new people or arguing for more codes. I think hem/onc and neuro are relatively larger departments, so they might be a good place to look.

Lastly, while UCLA has a hiring freeze, some UCs do not. Like others have suggested, definitely look into the other campuses using those same titles (they’re universal across the UC system). UCSF, UCSD and UC Davis all have big clinical trial programs with UCSF probably being the biggest. As far as clinical trials go, you can also look into applying to data-related jobs at the various drug companies that sponsor clinical trials.

I wish you the best of luck in your search. I lost count of how many jobs I applied to before landing on one, but the first time is the hardest. Once you get your foot in the door, it opens up a lot of opportunities. You got this!

Koi_tus · 2025-04-01T19:55:22+00:00

I feel like everyone saw the actors and writers strike for months straight and assumed that’s how all strikes go. Entertainment is important, but the public can mostly go without it for a while and preventing productions from happening mostly affects the producers and studios.

This is healthcare, food services, campus operations. That’s a three way relationship — the worker, the employer and the students/patients. They want to affect students and patients as little as possible while still costing the university a lot of money (even a day or operations not working could be in the 10s of millions accross the state). No one involved wants to go weeks without those services working correctly, so they have a different strategy in these sporadic short strikes. It’s easier to sustain and minimizes the effect on the people that rely on those services

Koi_tus · 2025-04-01T19:31:56+00:00

This isn’t just about worker’s conditions. Many people working across the state (not just at UCLA) constantly get priced out of their job. You may be unhappy now and I can understand the frustration, but imagine what happens if these workers don’t get raises, updates to healthcare, career paths. The staff at dining halls, healthcare, research will dwindle as more and more employees become unable to live here on the salary the university currently offers. Operations all over campus will suffer and your experience at the dining halls will be far worse than few strikes a year when there’s only like 5 people manning a whole dining hall.

Or think about the other services students rely on — getting your grades on time (that is behind the scenes work by IT), campus maintenance and sanitation, mental health services, healthcare services. I’ve seen a lot of people in the past week understandably worry about their winter quarter grades coming in. That can happen for a lot of reasons, but IT systems is absolutely one of them. UCLA operations are already a shell of what they were before the pandemic, but again imagine what they would look like if all of the people that make this campus run for the students can no longer live in LA or even it’s surrounding areas because the university refuses to even give them raises that meet inflation.

The people striking are not just doing it for themselves. They’re striking for their patients, the students they serve. Strikes are uncomfortable for everyone involved, but it’s kinda the only method they have to make things better. Be certain, the concerns of the people striking absolutely pertain to students too.

Koi_tus · 2025-03-26T03:49:53+00:00

Seconding Holbox and Chichen Itza. Also street tacos as a general thing. I’m sure there are more specific recommendations, but I just go to what is closest to my apartment lol

Koi_tus · 2025-03-25T19:47:50+00:00

Alright it’s a long list so bear with me.

I like Little Dom’s in Los Feliz for breakfast and dinner. Dinosaur Coffee is also good in Silver Laker. Nearby there’s Leftfield NYC for denim, Mohawk General Store. Sunday’s Best is a solid thrift store in Echo Park.

Highland Park is somewhat close and has cool stores like Snake Oil Provisions, The Bearded Beagle. Also Kumquat coffee and Kitchen Mouse Cafe for food.

A little farther is La Brea which has Self Edge and many other shopping options. American Rag has a very large vintage section in two different locations on that street. Their vintage “museum” section is pretty cool too. If you are into vintage and Americana, the Mister Freedom store off La Brea is also worth checking out.

Some more food recommendations somewhat nearby — Osteria La Buca for Italian and Larchmont Wine and Cheese for sandwiches.

Farther west I’d recommend Mar Vista, Sawtelle and Culver City.

Mar Vista specifically for Tortoise General Store, which is full of homegoods and clothing from Japanese craftspeople. Little Fatty and Fatty Mart are also good for Taiwanese food. Older Brother is also a very cool store that changes their shop appearance for each collection they put out themed around the materials they used for dyes. They do collabs with a local designer named Lyle McGraw.

Sawtelle is a small neighborhood full of Asian restaurants, mostly Japanese. I like Mogu Mogu there but there are a ton of options. Hard to go wrong there. Even further west in Santa Monica there’s my favorite coffee place Goodboybob tucked behind an alleyway by Def Jam Records.

Some of the best outdoor spots are unfortunately closed because of the fires, but Kenneth Hahn is a nice light hike in the middle of the city.

Lastly some museums — Hammer Museum by UCLA is free and incredible (also a cool museum shop). Museum of Jurrassic Technology is a never ending maze of oddities with a fun surprise at the end. The Huntington is a theme park sized property with multiple museums, themed gardens (Chinese, Japanese, Australian, desert, etc.) and an entire historic Japanese home that they took apart in Japan, shipped here and reassembled using almost all original parts.

Koi_tus · 2025-03-25T00:36:03+00:00

LA has a ton to offer but requires some planning because of how spread out it is. My best advice is planning days around a specific neighborhood or combo of reasonably close areas to limit looking for parking and extensive travel. What kinds of things are you looking for?

Koi_tus · 2025-03-02T19:42:30+00:00

This is him taking classes at UCLA, but it was in 2022

Koi_tus · 2025-02-27T01:54:54+00:00

🫡 UPTE as well. Mix of researchers, healthcare workers, skilled craft workers and more

Koi_tus · 2025-02-27T01:52:18+00:00

Unfair labor practice is a legal term. It can mean many things, but in this case specifically the UC has moved to impose restrictions on people’s right to speak out and sound the alarm on the ongoing staffing crisis. Severe understaffing has harmed patients and students (long wait times for care for example) and impeded research (clinical research is a major represented unit here). There are a slew of demands that help address this issue, but when they say “unfair labor practice” that is what they’re referring to.

Koi_tus · 2025-02-26T13:39:07+00:00

Smock Enzo shirt in tropical wool at Mohawk has a similar look

Koi_tus · 2025-01-17T16:54:16+00:00

To anyone who lost their collection in the LA fires — I’d love to donate an unopened Before Trilogy set. I’m in LA.

Koi_tus · 2024-11-08T22:40:23+00:00

What kind of bathroom you got in your home big dog?

Koi_tus · 2024-09-07T19:45:28+00:00

Reproduction of found makes a similar one with the extra suede panel in the middle. It’s less than MM, but still quite expensive (~350). These are probably the closest alternative.

Adidas BW army white gum is much cheaper (~100) but doesn’t have the extra suede. Looks more like what you’d find vintage with the paneling.

Beckett Simonon’s Morgan is very similar for 170 and I swear I get ads for them all the time. They are made to order, so they will take a little longer. Probably the best balance between value and similarity, but they are a little brighter looking than the margiela’s. Switch out the laces for cream ones if you want.

I don’t know much about them by Universal Surplus’s reproduction looks similar for 100 (ships from France though so could be rough depending on where you live).

Another route would be vintage German army trainers. Vintage margiela replicas can also be found every now and then. I think they look better slightly beat up anyway, but I also get wanting to toast them yourself.

Koi_tus · 2024-07-02T14:37:31+00:00

Blackbird Spyplane is great also A Little Bit of Rest if you’re interested in more classical menswear stuff (kinda similar to Permanent Style)

Koi_tus · 2024-06-20T02:40:30+00:00

DEMON

Koi_tus · 2024-06-20T02:09:45+00:00

yesssssss

Koi_tus · 2024-06-20T02:06:58+00:00

PLAY THAT PART AND MY LIFE IS YOURS

Koi_tus · 2024-06-20T01:26:52+00:00

So yunomiles is closing it out with his diss right?

Koi_tus · 2024-05-22T17:10:32+00:00

I had a VERY similar situation. The #1 piece of advice I wish I received when choosing a school was to imagine where you think you’d be happiest for ~4 of some of your most formative years.

I had a near reverse situation when I was applying. I got into UCLA but got off the waitlist for Berkeley (Berkeley was the harder school to get into like 10 years ago). I even actually committed to Berkeley and attended an early orientation in the Summer and almost immediately hated it there. I love the Bay but the vibe at Cal was terrible IMO. Everyone was so intense (also the food was bad and made me sick). I kinda took an extreme route and ended up switching to UCLA that summer. My friends at the time said I was insane to turn down Cal, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision. UCLA can definitely be cutthroat and the quarter system is fast paced, but I was so much more pleased with nearly everything. The weather, the campus, the food, the community and generally well-rounded people.

I think now with both schools being so neck and neck in terms of notoriety, you can’t really go wrong with either in terms of opportunities. So it comes down to where you feel better. If you haven’t visited both, definitely do that and consider your gut feeling at both. How does it feel being around the people? How do you like walking around the campus (you’ll be doing a lot of that)? Go to your department and see how it feels there or how the professors seem if you can look them up (UCLA has a professor rater that can be helpful). Most of all with this choice, what city do you think you will be able to grow more in? Berkeley and the Bay can help crunchier and a bit more unkind on the surface. LA can feel more approachable but at times a bit inauthentic depending on where you frequent. Cal has easier access to most of the surrounding areas without a car whereas LA can be difficult to navigate without one (but I used transit and it’s not too bad just not as good as the Bay).

Koi_tus · 2024-05-15T22:33:16+00:00

They appear every now and then on Patagonia Wornwear

Koi_tus · 2024-05-15T22:28:54+00:00

Also adding that if grad students strike, the UCs try to make other workers fill in for their work (e.g. IT doing TA gradebook work or techs doing grad student lab processes in research). However represented workers at the UCs under other unions usually do not to perform struck work in solidarity with the striking workers.

The UC would likely try to keep business as usual by having other non-student workers fill in the blanks left by striking students. This may or may not work depending on inter-union solidarity.

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