Classes

The number of free college-level courses offered online has surged this year, with some of the nation's most prestigious universities getting involved. The classes are open to anyone, and although you won't earn college credit, you will get a chance to learn from professors and other experts at no charge. Some key websites: • Coursera.org: Thirty-three universities, including Stanford, Caltech, Princeton and Duke, have joined together to offer more than 200 courses. Among them are 21 classes in economics and finance, 13 in business and management, and 20 in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Inmates at California's highest security prison Thursday filed for class-action status, seeking to broaden their 3-year-old federal lawsuit alleging the state's segregation policies equate to cruel and inhumane treatment. The plaintiffs are all prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison, confined to the Security Housing Unit for what the state says are active ties with prison gangs, allegations the inmates deny. In the motion filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, the prisoners contend they have been confined for years, and in some cases decades, to solitary, windowless cells where they spend almost all of their time, with little meaningful contact with others, restricted food, limited communication and no access to educational or treatment programs.

In the arts world, they call her “the dancing philanthropist.” And now, with her latest and largest endowment to date, Glorya Kaufman has a new dance partner in the University of Southern California. Her groundbreaking gift for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance will establish the first new endowment-funded school at the university in 40 years. (The last was the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, which opened in 1973 with a gift from Walter H. Annenberg.)

Hanley Ramirez moved a big step closer to rejoining the Dodgers when he started at shortstop Saturday for the team's Class-A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga. And Ramirez, who hasn't played since tearing a ligament in his right thumb during the World Baseball Classic five weeks ago, made an immediate contribution finishing one for three with two runs batted in and handling eighth chances, including three double plays, in six innings. Ramirez is expected to play for the Quakes on Sunday but Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said the timetable for Ramirez's return to the majors would be set by Stan Conte , the team's vice president for medical services.

Mood Designer Fabrics, best known as the shopping destination for “Project Runway” contestants in New York, is offering free sewing instruction in the company's bright new L.A. store on La Brea Avenue. The six-class series for beginners will be taught in a sewing studio called the Mood School and will cover basics such as using a machine, reading a pattern, marking and cutting fabric, and assembly. Current class projects include tote and messenger bags, but a spokeswoman said more home decor will be added.

You won't want to miss this special; On May 1 -- National Pole Dance Day -- you can take a pole dancing class in Las Vegas for just $10. Fitting, yes? Or more like fitness. The classes are in what's being called “pole fitness,” and they will be taught at Shine Alternative Fitness , a few miles southwest of the Strip at 6415 S. Tenaya Way. Shape magazine   listed Shine as one of the “ Coolest Fitness Clubs in America .” A variety of classes will be offered to meet various skill levels.

It's more than a little ironic that the same Arizona Legislature that spearheaded a ruthless, racially charged campaign against illegal immigrants also banned K-12 ethnic studies classes on the grounds that they promote hatred and division. Who knew Arizona's Republican majority, as expert as it is at hyperbole and invective, was so committed to fostering healthy race relations in the Grand Canyon State? Last month, after a court fight against the ban, the governing board of the Tucson Unified School District pulled the plug on its Mexican American studies program, which teachers say was designed to help middle school and high school students navigate in a complex, multiethnic world.

It's after-hours at the Huntington Meats in the Farmers Market and the canvas curtains are drawn. A dozen students sit on folding chairs circled around the worktable. On it lies splayed a whole hog, fresh from the farm, shaved naked, an apple stuffed in its mouth. Its nose is still a little bloody. Want to know where your meat really comes from? Take a butchery class. Over the next two hours, butchers Jim Cascone, Bob Ore and John Escobedo will take this whole animal and, using just a couple of knives and a band saw, reduce it to the cuts of meat you might recognize from the supermarket meat counter.

RESOURCES GUIDE Fall means back to school for kids and young adults. But hundreds of programs in the Southland are open to seniors, too. And relatives who are concerned about keeping their elders healthy ?mentally and physically ? should encourage them to participate. Research indicates that as long as people stimulate their brains by learning and trying new things, intellectual growth continues, even at an advanced age. The easiest courses to drop into are held at senior and community centers, often sponsored by city recreation departments.

Loews Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev., is teaching kids how to mix fun with the art of sushi in a series of classes dubbed SushiSKool on the first Saturday of each month. The next one is July 2. Chef Osamu Fujita, a third-generation sushi chef, guides grade-schoolers through teens through the basics of ordering, using chopsticks and sushi etiquette. Participants sample items such as as gari (pickled ginger) and wasabi (Japanese horseradish) while making sushi and sipping ocha (green tea)

DAMASCUS, Syria - White daffodils and violet daisies waxed aromatic from the crystal vase on the young couple's dining table. Friends had brought the flowers as a gesture of farewell, an all-too-common sentiment these days in the Syrian capital, where even some of the most resolute families are packing up and moving out. The exodus includes young, middle-class professionals born and raised in Damascus. Others are merchants, doctors, and teachers, the backbone of the capital's economy.

Call me old-fashioned, but I am not a fan of the current trend wherein bacon, avocado and other ingredients normally considered staples of savory cooking are used to make desserts, instead of, say, a BLT. The only exception to this rule, and it's an exception I make more than once, is olive oil. Although we normally think of olive oil as something to use to make a vinaigrette, sauté soffrito or season meat, when used in a dessert, the flavor of...

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment Saturday night and could be back with the Dodgers next week, nearly a month sooner than expected. Even that's not soon enough for Ramirez, though. "It hasn't been easy, watching the games from the bench," he said after an extended round of batting and fielding drills Friday. "I like to be in there competing. I'm looking forward to being back. "I can't wait. " When Ramirez underwent surgery March 22 to repair a tendon in his right thumb, torn during the World Baseball Classic championship game, doctors predicted he would be sidelined two months.

Dave Gold launched his 99 Cents Only Stores empire in Los Angeles at age 50 after mulling over the idea for over a decade. The thrifty entrepreneur took the dollar store concept and introduced it to middle-class and upscale neighborhoods. In the process, he created a chain that has become a mainstay for families squeezed during hard times or those who simply love a good bargain. Gold died Monday at his Mid-Wilshire home from an apparent heart attack, said his son, Jeff Gold. He was 80. Long before dollar stores dotted many street corners, Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only store in Los Angeles in 1982.

GERMANY Presentation Peter Wortsman will read from and discuss his new book, "Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray," which has been described as "the perfect guide to all aspects of life in Berlin - the best and the wurst of it. " When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. BICYCLING Presentation After four continents, 41 countries and almost 30,000 miles, Stephen Fabes, a British doctor, has reached California and will talk about his adventure on two wheels that took him from the mid-winter Alps to the blistering heat of the Syrian desert, and from the wilds of Africa to the magnificent peaks of the Andes.

A hot Friday afternoon in Long Beach played host to the qualifying round of the weekend's American Le Mans Series final. ALMS, as the race is known, is styled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, one of the oldest and most prestigious events in motorsports racing. ALMS is a series event, with 10 races of varying lengths held throughout the U.S. and Canada. What makes ALMS races so compelling is that spectators get to watch five different classes of cars compete on the track at the same time.

Fodada , a men's clothing company geared toward active dads, is doing something to protect the women in their lives. On Nov. 3, the company is hosting what it's calling the First Annual Fodada International Women's Self-Defense Day, offering free two-hour self-defense classes for women and teens ages 13 and over at participating gyms and martial arts schools around the world, including quite a few in Southern California. To see a list of participating facilities and class times and to register, go to Fodada's website page .   Trunk Shows Jewelry designer Lecil Henderson of the Henderson Collection is scheduled to make an appearance from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday at Sarah Leonard Jewelers , 1055 Westwood Blvd.

Chicago teachers were resigned to finishing this school week still on strike, but both sides in the labor dispute were pushing hard to reach a deal by Friday afternoon in hopes that more than 350,000 students could return to class on Monday. Talks on Thursday went 15 hours before adjourning after midnight. Teachers union President Karen Lewis and school board President David Vitale told reporters there had been progress and that they were hoping to have a pact finished in time to get students back to class next week.

When I set out to study wine, it wasn't obvious how to do it or where to go. I'd worked in a wine shop in San Francisco one summer when the proprietor was away and the wine clerks in charge opened fabulous bottles to taste - all summer long. Wine and food writer Colman Andrews had told me about the master of wine program, but at the time it was only in London and you had to be part of the wine trade to participate. Now the word "sommelier" and the profession have entered the popular imagination - there's even a documentary, "Somm," that is ready to hit the theaters.

Students and faculty are gearing up for a fight to oppose legislation that would allow California community colleges to charge more for high-demand courses during summer and winter sessions. Colleges would be able to offer extension programs for credit leading to certificates, associate's degrees and for transfer to four-year universities, if enrollment was at capacity the preceding two years. The bill, AB 955, is similar to a controversial plan attempted by Santa Monica College last summer to offer core education classes such as English, math and history at a cost of about $180 per unit, alongside state-funded courses set by the Legislature at $46 per unit.