An interactive memorial commemorating veterans, the first of its kind at UCLA, is on display in the Court of Sciences today and Bruin Plaza Thursday.

Organizers of the memorial encouraged passersby to write down the names of veterans they know, or choose a name from their list of UCLA veterans. The goal of the event, organizers said, is to get people thinking of what Memorial Day – which falls on Monday, May 28 – means for the UCLA community.

“Civilians sometimes take the time off for granted, but it should really be about remembering the people who have passed on serving our nation,” said Andrew Nicholls, a fourth-year psychology student and veteran’s coordinator at the UCLA Veteran’s Resource Office.

Nicholls served eight years in the army, and comes from a family with a rich history of service. He pointed to the name he had written on the board: “Michael H. Simpson.” Simpson, he explained, was a friend who recently died while on duty in Afghanistan.

“William LacLacblan, Class of ’50″ was another name etched on the wall. Second-year english student Dmitry Neronov stopped by the memorial on his way back from class to write down the name, which he selected from a list of veterans. Neronov said his mother works as an instructor for the military, so he appreciates the contributions of those who serve.

Third-year geophysics student Jacquelynne Vaughan kneeled close to the wall to scribble the name “Brad Parks” on the wall. Parks, a friend of Vaughan, is currently a second-year physics student. After high school, he went straight to the Marines and infantry. “He works really hard, and is overall a really good person, so I wanted to commemorate that,” Vaughan said.

Military Veteran’s Organization, Bruin Battalion, Operation MEND, Red Cross and ROTC are co-hosting the event. The boards are provided by the nonprofit Nicholls co-founded, KIA WIA Foundation or “Killed in Action – Missing in Action.”

This is the first year these groups have come together to organize a memorial board on campus. The plan, Nicholls said, is to keep these boards in storage and bring them out each memorial day to display. Nicholls said he would like the project to become an annual event, so that the UCLA community can connect with veterans.

“I hope the community finds something powerful in this event,” he said.

The memorial boards will be up in Bruin Plaza on Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

—Kate PM

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Actor, director and writer Josh Radnor is best known for playing Ted Mosby on the television show “How I Met Your Mother.” He visited UCLA Monday night, and the line to see him talk wrapped around the exterior of Ackerman Union.

Most students in line could rattle off tons of facts about Ted, but knew very little about Josh. Watch the video above to see students get quizzed on Radnor and his character.

Radnor started off his talk with a crowd-pleasing move: throwing a few bags of chips in to the audience. He was quick to say that he is not Ted Mosby and he was not going to lead a discussion solely about his television character.

So the questions that everybody no doubt wanted to ask were left unanswered – Can you say some of your taglines? How do you think the series will end? Is Cobie Smulders 100 percent committed to her husband and can I have her number and would she answer and who is the mother of your Ted’s children?

“I’m grateful for the show, and I’ve lent a lot of myself to the avatar on television, but that’s not me,” said Radnor, explaining the difference between Mosby and himself. “People get mad at me for something Ted did, and I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m a hired gun.’”

Radnor has been visiting college campuses for the last few months, and he said he likes to focus on answering students’ questions about life goals and careers, rather than his TV persona.

He spent the majority of his 25-minute talk discussing spirituality and self discovery.

“(We need to) begin the act of waking up. The real war is against unconsciousness, sleep,” Radnor said.

Following his talk, he answered students’ questions about his inspirations and his views on the state of society today.

Radnor ended the night by emphasizing how failure can be used as a source of motivation in life.

Did you attend Radnor’s talk? Tell us what you thought of the talk by tweeting @dbmojo or commenting below.

—Jake Rosen

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With less than a month until the end of the quarter… and finals… and graduation… and life after college… no doubt seniors must be feeling somewhat like this:

Sometimes, making lists help. So we have decided to do what we here at Mojo do best: make a list of the miscellaneous “stuff” you have to take care of before you graduate. Hopefully this list will make your life easier in the weeks leading up to graduation.

• Pick up commencement tickets: The tickets you ordered on MyUCLA will be available from CTO starting Tuesday, May 21. Be sure to bring a valid photo ID. Tickets that aren’t picked up by Tuesday, June 4 will be released to other students.
• Reserve parking passes for commencement: This can be done on MyUCLA by clicking on the commencement icon in the top right hand corner.
• Make use of the Career Center: After you graduate, you will no longer have access to the UCLA Career Center‘s resources unless you pay a fee. Luckily, there is still time to attend some career workshops and use BruinView to apply for jobs.
• Set up lifetime email forwarding: Although UCLA doesn’t allow you to keep your actual @ucla.edu email account, you can have any emails sent to your @ucla.edu email forwarded to an email of your choice for the rest of your life. You can set it up here.
• Order your cap and gown: Order your cap and gown via the UCLA Store website. Order pick ups have already begun at Graduation Etc. on Ackerman A-Level.
• Take the senior survey: Take an optional survey about your experiences at UCLA and be entered to win prizes in a raffle including Lifetime Alumni Association membership.
• See a departmental AND college counselor: You should see both counselors to make sure that you have met all the requirements for your major and specific college, so you are on the right track to graduate. Counselors are also very helpful if you have any questions about the whole process (or life in general).
• Apply for Optional Practical Training (International students): International students hoping to stay in the United States and work for 12 months in a specific field of study should consider applying for OPT. The recommended deadline for applying for OPT is two months after graduation. But keep in mind that the OPT application takes about 3 months to process, and you cannot start working until your application has been approved. Read this online workshop from the Dashew International Center for all the details before you submit the necessary paperwork.

Still feeling like you’ve forgotten something? You can find more information on the Commencement website, as well as the commencement Facebook and Twitter pages.

—Kassy Cho

Tags: commencement, graduation

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Today, I was in line for Diddy Riese after stocking up on  ______ (food) at Ralphs. When I reached the front of the line ______ (number) hours later, I discovered the line wasn’t for cookies. As I struggled to remember if the ______ (number) sequel of Iron Man was playing, I realized tonight was the world premiere of ‘The Hangover Part III‘. Looking up, I ______ (verb -ed) into Bradley Cooper, with his ______ (adjective) hair and ______ (adjective) eyes. Before I could respond by ______ (verb -ing) at him, I was knocked to the ground by a mob of ______ (adjective) fans. When I tried to escape the stampede, I was instantly ______ (verb -ed) by paparazzi flashlights. I turned around, only to bump into  Zach Galifianakis, who had picked up my ______ (food) and was  ______ (verb -ing) it with Ken Jeong. Ken Jeong  ______(verb -ed) at me and yelled “So long ______ (insult noun/expletive)!” before he ______ (verb-ed) on a ______ (noun). Before I knew it, I had gotten roped into watching the film and didn’t return home until my groceries had begun to smell like ______ (noun). Sigh, such is the life of a UCLA student. I hope I will never have to face another ______ (adjective) experience with so many celebrities … except my roommate just told me that ‘The Internship’ premieres in Westwood next week.

—Kassy Cho

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It’s not uncommon to see students sporting UCLA Bruinwear on campus. But does that mean we have school spirit? And how does our school spirit compare to that of students in other countries?

This past week was I Heart UCLA Week, an event put on by the Student Alumni Association that the group intends to amp up “Bruin pride” on and off campus. Mojo asked international students what they thought of the week and the concept of school spirit overall. Check out the video above to see their responses.

What do you think of UCLA’s school spirit? Comment below or tweet us @dbmojo.

—Sarah Greenwald

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