University Of California At Los Angeles

Karina De La Cruz wakes up in the dark on her first day of classes at UCLA. Pushing herself off a two-seat couch in the living room of a San Pedro apartment this September morning, she tries not to wake a brother sleeping in a twin bed next to her, or another dozing with his wife and baby daughter in the bedroom. De La Cruz dresses quickly and briefly considers taking her skateboard, then thinks of how her mother rolls her eyes whenever she rides it. She leaves it behind.

To help ease California's severe nursing shortage, UCLA officials have announced plans to reopen the university's undergraduate nursing program to freshmen next fall after a decade-long closure. None of UC's other nine campuses currently offer a bachelor's degree in nursing, although UC Irvine hopes to start such a program soon, officials say. UCLA stopped admitting freshmen to its previous program in 1995 because of state budget cuts, and the last students graduated in 1997.

As national signing day looms for college football recruits, Dietrich Riley teeters between choosing USC or UCLA. The safety and running back from La Cañada St. Francis High has not ruled out Louisiana State or Notre Dame, but when he reveals his decision on Wednesday, he is expected to choose either the Trojans or the Bruins. "My mind is switching every night," he said. Riley's struggle offers a window into the workings of the recruiting battle between a Trojans staff installed in the midst of one of the most tumultuous times in USC football history and a UCLA staff that senses opportunity.

The blue and gold banner from UCLA's first NCAA basketball championship hangs in the northwest corner of Pauley Pavilion. It's in good company. Nine others, each representing a championship, surround it. But they are all different from the 1963-64 banner, mainly because you can only be first once. So on the 30th anniversary of the first of UCLA's 10 national basketball championships, here are the reasons it happened: --It was the full-court press.

UCLA's Christian Yount can be seen as a visionary, though most of his daily work shift is spent looking backward. He fills the vital role of long snapper, a duty that was often filled by a walk-on player or the team's regular center. But Yount, a freshman, has benefited from the trend toward signing quality snappers. He agreed to attend UCLA after graduating from Mission Viejo Tesoro High with the promise that he would receive a scholarship after the Bruins' 2006 season.

Illegal immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are 50% less likely than U.S.-born Latinos to use hospital emergency rooms in California, according to a study published Monday in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The cost of providing healthcare and other government services to illegal immigrants looms large in the national debate over immigration. In Los Angeles County, much of the focus of that debate has been on hospital emergency rooms.

She was the John Wooden of women's basketball, the former darling of Cal State Fullerton, where, in her first year of coaching, she led the Titan women to a national championship. Back then, in 1970, 25-year-old Billie Moore had the only game in town. In 8 seasons at Fullerton, she racked up a 140-15 record, won the conference championship 7 times, went 39-8 in playoff games and finished 4 seasons ranked in the top 5 nationally. She was no fluke.

Team Heisman took the field Saturday without a brochure and without warning. Unlike Marshall Faulk, it had six legs and three sets of lungs. In UCLA's 35-7 victory over San Diego State at the Rose Bowl, Team Heisman rushed for 278 yards and scored three touchdowns. It averaged 6.5 yards per carry. It carried the Bruins through the 95-degree heat and the Aztecs' secondary. Team Heisman will not win the coveted award because they don't divide the trophy into three parts.

A UCLA student allegedly stabbed a classmate five times and slashed her throat in a crime that prosecutors said Tuesday was premeditated and unprovoked. Damon Thompson, 20, was charged with one count of attempted murder in Thursday's attack in a chemistry lab in Young Hall. If convicted, he could face life in state prison with the possibility of parole. Thompson pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $3-million bail by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz after prosecutors argued that the Belize native was a flight risk.

A preliminary hearing for UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic and his roommate, Aleksandar Stanisic, was postponed Monday until March 15. Both are facing assault charges stemming from an altercation after an Oct. 24 concert at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood. Prosecutors have said the incident began when Stanisic argued with a man and his girlfriend during the show. Later, a confrontation occurred outside the theater in which prosecutors allege Dragovic rushed the man and pushed him into a glass case, which shattered, lacerating the man's Achilles' tendon.

The pregame lead-up at Pauley Pavilion includes a video message from Coach Ben Howland, who says, "This is our house." The Bruins' players, in the locker room before home games, always remind each other, "This is the place we've got to protect," forward Nikola Dragovic said. Yet, life under those 11 national championship banners has been anything but business as usual this season. UCLA proved that again Saturday in a 72-58 loss to California that had spectators flying for the exit as if the arena's renovation was to begin at the final buzzer.

The best thing to happen to UCLA's basketball team this season may have been its historic 67-46 loss to USC on Jan. 16 -- the Bruins' most lopsided to the Trojans since 1945, when: Franklin Roosevelt was president; the nuclear age was still on the drawing board; John Wooden was 34. Yet, UCLA has won four of its last five games and is in a four-way tie for first place in the Pacific 10 Conference heading into the Bruins' game against...

UCLA has a pretty good place among the Pacific 10 Conference's muddled masses . . . first. Of course, first place includes 40% of the conference, with two other teams lurking one game back. But the Bruins walked away from Pauley Pavilion after surviving against Stanford, 77-73, with their fourth victory in five games. "We're just a good team," freshman Tyler Honeycutt said. That may be enough to be dominant in the Pac-10 this season. Trouble is, everyone else can claim that as well.

UCLA guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid had a moment of concern in the giddiness that followed his recent game-winning shot against Washington. Teammate Reeves Nelson was bearing down on him. "I saw Reeves came running at me, lifted me up and bearhugged me," Abdul-Hamid said. "That scared me." There are reasons to be concerned when Nelson is in your face, whether you're an opponent in the key or a teammate who has made a key shot. There are the seven tattoos, all etched into his skin since he arrived in Westwood, each with a special meaning.

The UCLA-USC football rivalry is definitely alive and flourishing -- in recruiting, at least. Each school emerged from Wednesday, the first day high school football seniors could sign letters of intent, with prospect classes ranked in the national top 10. "We're very close [to USC], and we'll go past them very soon," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel predicted. The departure of USC Coach Pete Carroll to the NFL seemed to energize Neuheisel, who showed a closer mentality. Four top defensive recruits all announced in the middle of the day that they had signed with UCLA -- defensive backs Dietrich Riley of La Cañada St. Francis and Anthony Jefferson of Los Angeles Cathedral, linebacker Josh Shirley of Fontana Kaiser and defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa from Portland, Ore. New USC Coach Lane Kiffin ended the day by landing the biggest and best offensive line prospect in the nation, 6-foot-8, 330-pound tackle Seantrel Henderson from St. Paul, Minn.

They seemed like insignificant numbers. UCLA sophomore guard Jerime Anderson didn't take a shot in a victory over Oregon State Saturday. He made three of four free throws for his points, had three assists, one rebound and turned the ball over once. Yet, at the end of his line on the box score was the number that mattered most: 16 minutes of playing time. "Getting 16 minutes from Jerime was huge," Coach Ben Howland said. "We didn't have that [in a loss to Oregon]

As national signing day looms for college football recruits, Dietrich Riley teeters between choosing USC or UCLA. The safety and running back from La Cañada St. Francis High has not ruled out Louisiana State or Notre Dame, but when he reveals his decision on Wednesday, he is expected to choose either the Trojans or the Bruins. "My mind is switching every night," he said. Riley's struggle offers a window into the workings of the recruiting battle between a Trojans staff installed in the midst of one of the most tumultuous times in USC football history and a UCLA staff that senses opportunity.

A preliminary hearing for UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic and his roommate, Aleksandar Stanisic, was postponed Monday until March 15. Both are facing assault charges stemming from an altercation after an Oct. 24 concert at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood. Prosecutors have said the incident began when Stanisic argued with a man and his girlfriend during the show. Later, a confrontation occurred outside the theater in which prosecutors allege Dragovic rushed the man and pushed him into a glass case, which shattered, lacerating the man's Achilles' tendon.

In a rare nine-figure real estate deal, the Regents of the University of California have agreed to pay $147 million over 30 years to rent a medical facility planned in Santa Monica. Developer Randy Miller hopes to begin construction on the three-story building by August. It would rise on a parking lot at 1223 16th St., across the street from the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. The final cost of the 50,000-square-foot development, including land acquisition, would be about $50 million, Miller said.

The sights and sounds of relief were apparent for UCLA on Saturday. There was Reeves Nelson's exclamation-point dunk with one second left, capping the 62-52 victory over Oregon State. "It had been a frustrating game," Nelson said. "I guess I took it out on the rim." There were the hoots and hollers in the locker room at Gill Coliseum afterward, an emotional pendulum swing from Thursday's long faces after the Bruins blew a 13-point first-half lead in an overtime loss to Oregon.