Since Spring Sing is happening tonight, why not brush up on some classic Company pieces? For those of you who don’t know, Spring Sing Company (SSC for short) is the comedy group that performs between acts, and opens and closes the Spring Sing show every year. We compiled our five favorite Company videos here.

1. Spring Sing 2010 Opener.

There’s only one thing you should take from this hilarious spoof of “The Hangover”: No matter where you are today, or how thirsty you were on Thursday, go to Spring Sing 2013 or … you’re dead. Warning: There’s a high likelihood that you’ll get James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” stuck in your head after this watching video.

2. Spring Sing 2011: Club B-Cafe.

 The “DOs and DON’Ts” of late nights on the Hill.

• DON’T hit up that party … B-Cafe will satisfy your raging needs. They don’t even check your IDs.
• DO use fantastic wordplays. “They call me milk ‘cause I’m steaming,” anyone?
• DON’T lose control. There are no bathrooms at B-Cafe (thanks for the tip, SSC).
• DO eat all of the “baaaagels.”
• DO follow sexy European strangers. No danger here.
• DO listen carefully. It took me two quarters of watching this video to figure out that the charming pigtail lady’s all-time fav B-Cafe dish was “ham and swiss.”
• DO listen to this song at the gym. Best workout of your life.

3. Spring Sing 2012: UCLA VS. USC Rap Battle

“Live your life like you’ve got 19P” is perhaps the greatest mantra ever created. This video obviously deserves a place in our top five (and you’ll undoubtedly have the chorus stuck in your head for the next 24 hours).

4. Spring Sing 2010: “The Twilight Saga: Pawprint.”

It’s kind of unreal how much the actor parodying the character of Edward Cullen looks like Robert Pattinson. Also, “Pawprint” is a far better love story than Twilight. Fur-real.

5. Spring Sing 2012: Bruin Love Line

Of course, we had to include one of Company’s facetious live skits. The puns are all-inclusive, UCLA-specific, science-related and, of course, sexually charged (it’s college, after all). No wonder securing a spot in the elite Spring Sing Company is about as easy as finding a table in Powell during finals week.

—Iris Goldsztajn

Tags: company, skit, spoof, Spring Sing, videos, youtube

Comments ()

This week, we visited Professor Hans Barnard‘s office in the basement of the Fowler Museum. Barnard, originally from the Netherlands, ditched his background in medicine for a job in archaeology so he could travel and work with his wife, who also teaches at UCLA.

The first thing in his office to catch our eye was his piano, which he doesn’t play often because of the thin walls between him and his busily working neighbors. But he said it comes in handy when colleagues bring their children in to the office.

On the walls of his office are many colorful woven baskets, collected by his wife. He also has a small collection of pottery, which he uses as examples for his class on the archaeological analysis of ceramics. He said his goal of the class is to combine science with art in a way that helps break down the “North Campus vs. South Campus” way of thinking.

Check out our footage of his office, stories of his career and his piano-playing skills in the video above.

Know a professor who deserves to be featured on Office Hours? Tweet us @dbmojo.

—Casey Bradford

Comments ()

This week, you probably noticed the abnormally long lines and wait times at Bruin Café, thanks to the addition of some new menu items (which was made possible, in part, because of the recent expansion of Bruin Cafe’s kitchen). Like most students, I was eager to try something new, so I tried each of the new entreés. Here are my thoughts on each of the dishes.

• The Black Forest ham sandwich, topped with a spicy apple slaw, has a surprising little kick (mmm, jalapenos). The spice pairs nicely with the coolness of the apples in the slaw (although the slaw had a little bit too much mayo). I also enjoyed the sweet and salty combination of the apples and the ham. Chances are, if you like contrasting flavors and textures, you’ll like this sandwich.

• If there’s one thing I have to say about the Asian-style roast beef sandwich, it’s WHOA, WASABI. The wasabi mayonnaise is pretty overpowering, especially if you don’t eat spicy foods often. However, the roast beef was pretty good, and the carrot and radish slaw provided a nice crunch. If I order this sandwich again, I’ll be asking for it sans-mayo.

• You can add the chunky chicken salad sandwich to the list of items I would order again. The chicken salad wasn’t too creamy or too dry, and I loved the added crunch of the sliced almonds. The fresh baby spinach and sliced tomato on top of the chicken salad definitely made this sandwich a winner.

• The new tuna salad has a base of romaine and iceberg lettuce, topped with the tuna salad mixture (the same mixture used in the tuna salad sandwich), cucumber, tomato, onion, hard-boiled egg and a side of Italian dressing. Since I’m sort of a tuna-hater, I asked Katerina Pagsolingan, a first-year theater student, what she thought of the salad. She said that the tuna salad itself was a little dry and bland, but with the addition of the Italian dressing, it hit the mark.

• Of all the items I tried, the Mediteranean nachos dish (pita chips topped with hummus, cucumber, tomato, olives, onions, feta cheese and tzatziki sauce) was one of my favorites. The nachos were refreshingly simple and are the perfect snack for summer weather. The pita chips were more like a baked pita than chips – chewy in some places, crunchy in others. Clara Woodie, a first-year ecology and evolutionary biology student, said that she liked how Bruin Café put a healthy twist on classic nachos.

• Finally: BACON. Okay, maybe I’m a little overexcited about the new chicken, bacon and gorgonzola salad, but, let’s be real, who doesn’t love bacon? Throw in some champagne dressing and I’m sold. And it seems that a lot of other students were sold too, since Bruin Café actually ran out of the salads on Wednesday afternoon. It’s a delicious combination of salty bacon, fresh veggies and creamy cheese that’s worth the long wait in line.

Have you tried any of the latest menu items at Bruin Café? Tweet us your opinions @dbmojo or leave a comment below.

—Julianna Foster

Comments ()

It’s I <3 UCLA Week (in case you’re one of the three students who aren’t aware). One of the many events this week is the I <3 UCLA Blood Drive sponsored by Student Alumni Association. It may not be the most glamorous event this week, but it’s for a good cause. Plus, you get some awesome swag for doing it. I’ve donated blood before, and while I was apprehensive at first, I’ve come to actually enjoy the experience.

If you go to a blood drive, chances are you’ll be asked to sign up for the bone marrow donor list. Last year, I was actually a match for a leukemia patient. I ended up giving a peripheral blood cell donation (which is less intrusive than donating bone marrow), and it was a truly humbling experience. While it is a big time commitment if you do get called, I’d highly recommend signing up to be a bone marrow donor. I’m going to try to convince you by talking about all the sweet perks you get (at least, based on my experience).

1) Free Food: It’s every college student’s dream. Getting food without having to fork over money for it. If you donate blood, you usually get some cookies, juice and maybe some chips. But when you donate bone marrow, you get all that plus a free lunch!
2) The Nurses Pamper You Like Crazy: Again, I’m just speaking from my experience, but the nurses treat you like royalty. You’re selflessly giving something you have for the benefit of another person. In a hospital, that practically makes you a rock star. They’ll open your drinks and cut up your food if your arms are still sore after the procedure. And they’ll give you all the blankets you want. Oh, by the way…
3) The Blankets Are Frickin’ Awesome: Hospital blankets are the comfiest things I’ve ever had on my body. And they’re so warm. They must put them in a microwave or something because the blankets were so toasty. When your blanket loses its heat, they’ll take it away, and give you another one that’s just as warm as the last one.
4) You Get to Watch TV: If you end up giving a peripheral blood cell donation, you’re lying in a bed with two needles in both arms for 4 to 6 hours. Luckily, they’ll have a TV, so you can watch whatever you want. When I donated, I finally had a chance to catch up on the final season of Seinfeld. You really can only watch TV, so it’s a perfect excuse for not doing your homework. And one more thing…
5) It’s the Perfect Excuse for Getting Out of Class: You’re helping another human being. If your professor doesn’t excuse you from class, he/she has no soul.

The I <3 UCLA Blood Drive takes place Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Kerckhoff Grand Salon. You can schedule an appointment at 310-825-0888. The first 250 donors get a free I <3 UCLA tank top. More free stuff! And everyone gets a movie ticket for donating. Even more free stuff!

—Mike Bedard

Comments ()

Many undergraduate researchers conduct independent research under the supervision of a professor, as part of UCLA’s student research program. The researchers then present their topics at Science Poster Day each year. Undergraduates gathered to share their findings Tuesday afternoon in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.

Here’s what some undergraduates are currently researching.

Alyson Ramirez, a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, conducted research in a neurobiology lab. Ramirez is studying the development of cells called motor neurons, which allow people to breathe, interact and move. “There are diseases, such as spinomuscular atrophy, which can result in the loss of these neurons and eventually death,” she said.

There are no cures for these diseases, yet she said she wishes to gain more insight by looking into the development of these neurons. “We found proteins essential for the expression of neurons, and we hope to make a virus that has that protein,” she said. The purpose of that virus would be to replicate that protein in apetri dish, allowing for further analysis of neural development.

Amanda Loftin, a fourth-year psychobiology student, works in an orthopedic surgery lab. She is evaluating different implant materials, such as titanium, trabecular metal and stainless steel. Her experiments with these different metals aimed to see which metal accumulated the least bacteria and, therefore, which was the safest material for prosthetic implants. “Titanium and trabecular metal resulted in the most infections,” she said. “(This) may have been due to the metals’ poor structure (because of) large surface area, which creates more bacterial burden.” She is also looking into coating hardware with different antibacterial chemicals.

Amy Alayari, a fourth-year neuroscience student, was accompanied by her co-worker, Zafar Gill, a fourth-year psychobiology student. They are researchers in the molecular, cell and developmental biology department. They are looking into retinal degeneration, which is cell death in the eyes. “We’re using the fruit fly as our model organism, but it’s also found in humans,” Alayari said. She added that some people are born with normal retina, but they degenerate over time, causing sight problems like tunnel vision, which is the loss of peripheral vision. Another reason why fruit flies are experimented on is because flies’ eye gene structure is very similar to that of humans. “We want to identify what genes are involved in the degeneration process, and elucidate a pathway,” Gill said.

—Brian Pham

Comments ()