This post was updated Jan. 3 at 11:38 p.m.

In Murray Bartow’s first game as head coach on the Bruin bench, a lot changed.

For starters, they won.

“It’s been a really hard two weeks,” Bartow said. “But I think the last three days, the guys have done a really good job of trying to get their spirits back up.”

UCLA men’s basketball (8-6, 1-0 Pac-12) snapped its four-game losing streak with a 92-70 victory over Stanford (7-6, 0-1) on Thursday night in the first game of the Pac-12 play. The Bruins had their highest scoring output since Nov. 16 against Saint Francis and their best defensive game since their victory over Notre Dame on Dec. 8.

“We really keyed in on playing with pride, playing for the four letters in front of us,” said sophomore guard Jaylen Hands. “We went out there and mirrored what we did in practice – just played hard, with energy and for each other.”

UCLA led for the entire second half, and trailed for less than two minutes on the night.

Freshman center Moses Brown scored a team-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds – his first double-double since Dec. 2 versus Loyola Marymount and his most points since the matchup with Saint Francis.

Brown, who was 8-of-9 from the field despite spraining his ankle in practice Wednesday, said that the new energy under Bartow helped the Bruins break out of their funk.

“I love Bartow’s energy,” Brown said. “Now that he’s the head coach, all of (the energy) has started to manifest. … I really like the way he’s gone about this little transition we’re going through.”

Bartow used a new starting lineup, with sophomore guard Chris Smith getting the start over redshirt freshman forwards Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. Redshirt junior forward Alex Olesinski made his return from a broken foot, and walk-on freshman guard Russell Stong made his season debut.

“I think (Smith) did a really good job of running, outletting on breaks, being active, being long,” Hands said. “It’s like having four guards out there and everyone’s a threat to drive or shoot.”

Hill was scoreless in 19 minutes, reeling in seven rebounds, while Riley scored six points in eight minutes.

The Bruins also ran a 2-3 zone and a full-court press for the majority of the game, turning 14 Cardinal turnovers into 21 points.

“We’ve really wanted to push the tempo of this game so we wanted to press more, trap a little bit more, try to run a little bit more after a made shot,” Bartow said. “I thought, defensively, a little up and down, but for the most part, pretty good.”

Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes was in foul trouble early, playing only five minutes and scoring two points in the first half. The wing bounced back to score 12 points in the second half, tied with redshirt junior guard Prince Ali for the team lead.

Although Hands scored just five points in the second half, the sophomore finished the night with 15 points, six assists and four rebounds. Hands leads the conference with 6.9 assists per game.

Two of Hands’ assists were to Brown on alley-oops, and Brown said that the Bruins’ ball movement is what helped the Bruins break out.

“We ran a lot of sets that can take advantage of their defense, and we moved the ball around,” Brown said. “It made it just way easier to get open shots, not only for me but for my teammates.”

Along with Hands, Brown and Wilkes, both Ali and freshman guard David Singleton cracked double digits as well. Ali scored 14 points and Singleton scored a season-high 13.

UCLA will have a chance to pick up a second straight win when it welcomes California to Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.

The post-Steve Alford era is officially underway for the Bruins.

UCLA men’s basketball (7-6) leads Stanford (7-5) 38-32 at the half of the Pac-12 season opener, on pace to break its four-game losing streak. The Bruins hit their first three shots under interim coach Murry Bartow and held the lead for all but 1:23 in the first half.

After the Cardinal cut the Bruin lead to seven at the nine-minute mark, UCLA doubled its lead.

Sophomore guard Jaylen Hands threw a no-look alley-oop to freshman center Moses Brown from outside the 3-point line. Hands stole the ball on the next possession and finished an and-one on the fast break.

Sophomore guard Kris WIlkes picked off a Stanford pass just seconds later and flushed a dunk of his own.

The Cardinal went on a 10-0 run out of a timeout to cut the deficit to four, but the run was halted by a corner 3 by freshman guard David Singleton.

Sophomore guard Chris Smith got his first start of the season, while redshirt junior Alex Olesinski made his season debut.

Hands led the Bruins in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Brown has nine points and six rebounds and has missed just one shot.

Wilkes picked up two early fouls and scored just two points in five minutes.

Thirty of UCLA’s 38 points came in the paint – 10 of which came off dunks – while the Bruins shot just 2-of-11 from downtown.

UCLA hasn’t lost to Stanford in Pauley Pavilion since 2005.

The search for Steve Alford’s replacement has begun.

Following the firing of the UCLA men’s basketball coach Monday morning and the appointment of assistant coach Murry Bartow as the interim head coach, the athletic department said the search for a new coach will begin immediately.

[Related: UCLA fires men’s basketball coach Steve Alford days before start of Pac-12 play]

With a range of collegiate and NBA coaches to choose from, there are six strong candidates that should be at the forefront.

The best-case scenario

The top option for the Bruins is Billy Donovan. Donovan has coached the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2015. Prior to the NBA, he racked up over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience at Marshall and Florida.

Donovan led the Gators to 14 NCAA tournaments, including two NCAA championships, four Final Four appearances and three trips to the Elite Eight. With the Thunder and UCLA alum Russell Westbrook, Donovan has made the playoffs in each of his three seasons, including the Western Conference Finals in 2016.

The only knock on Donovan is that he may not want to leave the Thunder as he continues to build a contending team in the Western Conference.

The familiar face

Everyone is talking about Earl Watson as the next UCLA coach. While Watson was a Bruin himself for four years, from 1997-2001, he has had just over two years of head coaching experience in the NBA.

As head of the Phoenix Suns, Watson recorded a .280 winning percentage and suffered the worst loss in franchise history. A large part of the lack of success had to do with the weakness of his roster. However, many believe Watson was fired because he lost the locker room – much like what happened to Alford.

The fact that Watson has 13 years of NBA playing experience and is a UCLA alum make him an attractive candidate. But he does not have any collegiate coaching experience – which is a very different game from the NBA. And if he cannot have success with professionals, it is hard to believe that he would with the Bruins.

The safe choice

Another choice is Fred Hoiberg. Many believe that his four NCAA tournament appearances during his tenure at Iowa State make him a good candidate for the collegiate arena. However, he lacks recruiting experience, as the Cyclones often brought in transfer students and developmental players rather than five-star athletes.

Hoiberg played at Iowa State for four years before the Indiana Pacers picked the guard in the 1995 NBA Draft. With his ten years of NBA experience, he may offer good insight to the Bruins’ roster of NBA hopefuls.

The biggest question surrounding Hoiberg, however, is how he will rebound following his 5-19 start to the 2018-2019 season and recent firing as coach of the Chicago Bulls. Hoiberg had no NBA coaching experience prior to joining the Bulls and was unable to translate his fast-paced coaching style to the NBA.

The change-up

Buzz Williams is also an option for the Bruins. Williams is not a name that has been circling as a coaching option thus far; however, he offers a different and more intense mindset that could spark UCLA.

Williams is in his 12th year of Division I coaching, currently leading Virginia Tech with an 11-1 record and a No. 10 ranking to start this season. Prior to joining the Hokies in 2014, he coached Marquette to five seasons of over 20 wins, including two Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight appearance.

However, Williams has only brought in one ESPN 5-Star Recruit to Virginia Tech over his five seasons – failing in comparison to Alford’s seven five-stars in his 5 1/2 years. The Hokies are also a rising program that Williams may not want to abandon.

The dark horse

Next on the list is Chris Beard. Beard is currently the coach of Texas Tech, which is sitting at No. 11 – but few have mentioned him as a candidate.

Beard has only been coaching Division I basketball since 2015, when he started at Little Rock. In his one season there, he was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year and led Little Rock to a first-round upset over Purdue in the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Beard is in his third season at Texas Tech and has a Big-12 Co-Coach of the Year honor and Elite Eight experience under his belt. Much like Alford, Beard was an assistant, under Indiana coaching legend Bobby Knight while Knight coached at Texas Tech.

Similar to both previous candidates, Beard has yet to bring in a strong recruiting class to the Red Raiders, as that program also focuses on development over “big-time recruits.” UCLA historically has revolved around the reputation of its recruiting class.

The strong contender

Rounding out potential candidates for Alford’s replacement is Eric Musselman. Musselman currently coaches No. 6 Nevada – one of only four undefeated teams left in the NCAA.

A coach with collegiate and NBA experience, Musselman has led the Wolf Pack through three seasons with over 20 wins, including a Sweet 16 tournament appearance last year. Analysts believe Musselman has Nevada poised for a Final Four run this season.

Musselman is at a school that relies on junior college transfers as opposed to top-100 recruits, so there is uncertainty about how he would do at an elite program with recruiting experience.

Musselman played for San Diego, giving him an edge in West Coast recruiting. Similar to Hoiberg, Musselman’s NBA coaching experience of over 10 years can also help connect him to the mindset of UCLA’s athletes.

Donovan is the dream for UCLA – but that dream is unlikely. Musselman leads the list of candidates that the Bruins should really keep their eyes on.

This post was updated Dec. 31 at 10:45 a.m.

Steve Alford’s time in Westwood has come to an end.

UCLA has fired the coach midway through his sixth season, the athletic department announced Monday morning. Assistant coach Murry Bartow will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero said in a statement that although making a coaching change midseason is rare, the program needed it immediately.

“We simply have not been at a consistent level,” Guerrero said. “Our struggles up to this point in the season do not bode well for the future.”

After a 73-58 home loss to Liberty on Saturday, UCLA men’s basketball donors pressured administration for a change in personnel, and a negotiation on Alford’s buyout reached an agreement Sunday evening, according to the Bruin Online Report.

The Bruins opened the 2018 season 5-0, but followed that losing six of their last nine games – including their two most recent home losses to Belmont and Liberty.

“While I wish we could have had more success, my family and I are so grateful for our time in Westwood,” Alford said in a statement. “We wish this program nothing but the best. I sincerely hope that the UCLA community will rally around this team, its players and the coaching staff as Pac-12 play begins.”

Alford joined the Bruins in 2013 and led them to a 124-63 overall record. UCLA reached four NCAA tournaments and made three Sweet 16 appearances during his tenure.

The Bruins advanced to the round of 16 in their first two seasons under Alford, making him only the fourth coach in program history to lead his first two teams to that point.

In the 2016-2017 season, Alford finished with a 31-5 record and took his team to the Sweet 16, led by freshman standout and eventual second overall pick in the NBA Draft Lonzo Ball.

Following the departure of Ball and forwards TJ Leaf and Ike Anigbogu – who were both drafted in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers – and the graduation of guard Bryce Alford, the Bruins finished with a 21-12 record in the 2017-2018 season.

Prior to his arrival in Westwood, Alford spent six seasons as the coach at New Mexico and led the Lobos to three NCAA tournament appearances.

Alford first made a name for himself as a collegiate player at Indiana. Under coach Bobby Knight, Alford led the Hoosiers to an NCAA championship in 1987.

Following the conclusion of his senior season, Alford was picked No. 26 overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. He spent four years in the NBA – playing for both the Mavericks and Golden State Warriors – before beginning his coaching career.

While the Bruins open conference play Thursday against Stanford, the athletics department said a comprehensive search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

Cori Close said the third quarter was the turning point for the Bruins.

“We played with much more toughness,” the coach said. “If you want a different outcome, then you need to choose a different response. That’s really what the bottom line of the second half was.”

UCLA (8-5, 1-0 Pac-12) women’s basketball overcame a 13-point deficit by outscoring USC (10-2, 0-1) in a 16-2 run over a 4:48 stretch in the third period to defeat its crosstown rival 72-65 on the road. The Bruins have won the matchup eight times in the last nine games.

After trailing by 11 points at the end of the first half, UCLA outscored USC 31 to 10 in the third quarter by adjusting defensively.

“It really was taking away right-hand drives, sitting in a stance, forcing contested jumpers and controlling the boards,” Close said. “It was (executing) the game plan.”

The Bruins gave up six turnovers to USC in the first quarter.

Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere said UCLA discussed ways to change its performance at half time.

“We knew that we didn’t play our best defensively,” Onyenwere said. “(We focused on) getting back to what we had set in practice.”

Onyenwere entered the game ranked 10th in scoring and eighth in rebounding among players in the Pac-12. The forward logged her fourth double-double of the season.

“I think (Onyenwere) is a beast,” said redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer. “We just continue to try to feed her, find her. I mean (USC) sent two, three people at her,”

Drummer recorded UCLA’s second double-double of the night, pulling down a season high of 14 rebounds against the Trojans. Drummer ranked the fourth in rebounding among players in the Pac-12 before facing off against USC.

Close said Onyenwere’s and Drummer’s confidence going up against the Trojans was essential for a Bruin victory.

“This was a really important piece for our (conference) start and for our confidence,” Close said. “I thought (the win) was a very important piece (for us) and a very important game.”

UCLA will have the opportunity to carry momentum from its five-game win streak into its next stretch of games against four straight top-25 teams.

“We have just a horrific January in terms of how the schedule falls,” Close said. “We’ve got to get better every week.”

The Bruins will travel to face No. 14 California (9-2) on Friday. UCLA defeated the Bears in both matchups last season.

The 73-58 defeat marks the largest home loss of coach Steve Alford’s UCLA career.

The Bruins’ early-season free-fall has reached a new low.

UCLA men’s basketball (7-6) suffered its fourth consecutive loss with a 73-58 home defeat to Liberty (11-4) on Saturday afternoon. The 15-point loss marked the largest home loss of coach Steve Alford’s UCLA career.

“I’ve been doing this a long time – 28 years. And you have setbacks, you have tough games,” Alford said. “This might be one of the most disappointing games I’ve had. Trying to reflect back throughout 28 years, and the word disappointment of just our team and how we performed. I don’t know the last time I was this disappointed in a team.”

UCLA failed to take care of the basketball throughout the night, turning it over 12 times in each half. The Flames converted the Bruins’ 24 turnovers into 32 points whereas the Bruins were only able to score seven points on Liberty’s eight turnovers.

During its current four-game losing skid, UCLA is averaging 16.5 turnovers per contest. Alford said that while he does not understand what is causing his team to be so careless with the ball as of late, he hinted that shake-ups in the rotation could be on the horizon.

“We’ve got some time to try to look at tape and figure things out before we start league play, but it’s been four games now,” Alford said. “So whether changes have to occur … I can almost promise you changes in the lineup, changes in minutes. I mean, those things have to happen, because now we’ve had four games. It’s not like it’s a one-game deal or a two-game deal.”

The Bruins had an otherwise strong start to the contest, shooting 46 percent from the floor and outrebounding the Flames by 11 in the opening 20 minutes. However, sophomore guard Chris Smith said he and the rest of his teammates were unable to recover from their self-inflicted wounds.

“We were off to a good start, we had the lead and everything,” Smith said. “I guess we just went downhill and lost focus, lost control, lost concentration and whenever we tried to get back into it, we only hurt ourselves. So I don’t think it was that, being flat, it was just bad.”

The Bruins now have to turn their attention to conference play. UCLA will host Stanford and California in their first two Pac-12 matchups of the season on Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, respectively.

When asked about how the Bruins will handle this adversity, redshirt freshman forward Cody Riley said the team will continue to study the areas in which it needs to improve.

“At the end of the day you just have to go back to the lab and try to figure it out,” Riley said. “We had way more turnovers than we should ever have and it was a lack of concentration, so we’ve got to get tougher and learn to focus more on the games in order to overcome this.”

Despite leading the Bruins in scoring, Japreece Dean spent the majority of the final quarter cheering on her teammates from the bench.

“It was super fun watching people fly around, get scoops, get deflections and the bench energy was great,” the senior guard said. “It was fun to be around. I know (the bench was) celebrating (the starters) when we were on the court, so we have to give them the same energy.”

UCLA women’s basketball (7-5) had 11 of its 12 players score in its 81-35 trampling of Cal Poly (3-8) on Friday night. Dean led the Bruins with 18 points in their largest margin of victory this season.

UCLA outscored Cal Poly in every quarter and held its offense to 17.5 percent shooting on just 10 made field goals. The Bruins scored 11 field goals in the first period alone.

“To be able to control the game the way we did and win every single quarter – that speaks to our consistency,” said coach Cori Close.

UCLA established an early lead with a 15-0 run and prevented Cal Poly from scoring more than halfway through the first quarter.

The Bruins’ season-high 48 first-half points on 67.7 percent shooting allowed the starters to play just 110 minutes compared to their season average of 150.5 per game. Close made sure to remind the team to maintain its level of tenacity when its bench players were on the court.

“(It’s) the ability to stay focused over a long period of time even when the score is not reflective,” Close said. “That’s what I saw some glimpses of today: loving to compete together no matter the score.”

UCLA set a season-high by logging 122 passion plays, which are nonstatistical categories that include box outs and deflections.

“When we see our team come out and play with that great of (an) energy, setting a season-high, maybe an ever-high of passion plays, it makes me really excited about going into battle in Pac-12 play,” Close said.

Sophomore guard Chantel Horvat led the Bruins’ bench in scoring with a season-high nine points on 3-of-6 shooting.

Close said that Horvat – who also logged three steals – elevates UCLA’s energy with her consistent production.

“I know she’s going to be a spark in some way, shape or form,” Close said. “When she comes in, she’s going to help us get a couple extra possessions. This time it didn’t come with as many rebounds. It came with passion plays, deflections and steals.”

Following a Cal Poly layup a minute into the fourth quarter – the only Mustang points scored in the period – the Bruins ended the game on a 12-0 run.

UCLA’s sideline was brought to its feet in the final minutes of the game following a dime from freshman guard Ahlana Smith to redshirt freshman guard Kayla Owens for a layup in transition, giving Owens her fifth and sixth points of the season.

“I thought (Smith) played with really good confidence,” Close said. “Not only in her drives to the basket – we’ve really been challenging her. That’s what she does best. She has great touch around the basket, she sees seams.”

UCLA will open up Pac-12 play on the road against USC (10-1) on Sunday.

The Bruins swept the Trojans in a pair of games in February of last season, defeating USC by at least 10 points in both contests.

“We know that they are going to come out gunning for us,” Horvat said. “We just need to be prepared and be locked into the game plan and be ready to fight and give our best.”

Transcript

Keshav Tadimeti: From the Daily Bruin, I’m Keshav Tadimeti, and this is “In the Know.”

[music plays]

This time on the podcast, we revisit a moving story from fall quarter: a piece about Westwood’s homeless population – specifically those who need medical help but don’t want it.

Fall quarter is over and winter break is in full swing. Mariah Carey is blasting from every shopping center. Talk of Christmas deals and warm, sugary drinks fill the air. Winter break is when a lot of students can decompress and escape Westwood’s grueling quarter system.

For some, though, staying in Westwood isn’t an option; leaving it isn’t it either.

In 2017, Westwood was home to nearly 40 homeless individuals. The year before, Westwood officials counted 33 homeless individuals. These residents often take shelter on streets such as Broxton Avenue and Westwood Boulevard, bundling up to fight the cold. Hundreds of others in Los Angeles will be doing the same this holiday season in other parts of the city because officials have struggled to address the many causes and effects of homelessness.

Today, though, we take a look at a subset of that population – a subset California labels as “the gravely disabled.” To do that, I talked to someone who reported on this topic for the better part of fall quarter.

Teddy Rosenbluth: Hi, I am Teddy Rosenbluth, and I am the Daily Bruin’s science and health editor.

KT: Usually I start off the podcast with a couple of warm-up questions, and then we go into the meaty subject matter. For this podcast, though, everything seems really meaty, so I want to start off with the title of the podcast: “the gravely disabled.” What does that phrase mean and where does it come from?

TR: So “gravely disabled” is a term that officials have to prove in order to institutionalize someone. So, basically, in legal terms, this means that someone can’t provide food, water or shelter for themselves because of a mental illness. And this was part of the (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act), which was passed in 1967, which was kind of a reaction to mass institutionalization in California – a way to kind of hold people accountable and have more of a process for institutionalizing people.

KT: With that said, I want to jump into the center of this podcast, which is talking about the reporting that you’ve been doing. Usually “In the Know” podcasts are about something in the news, something relevant to the news cycle. But this time we’re doing something special: We’re pegging this to the Daily Bruin’s quarterly magazine, called PRIME. The story you’ve written for this quarter’s PRIME magazine is about a subset of the population that is homeless, has a mental illness and has a medical condition. And you’ve been reporting on this since the beginning of the quarter, so I want to start off with: How did you find this story?

TR: Initially, I thought this story was going to be very different from what it ended up being. I thought that the biggest issue in Westwood – the Westwood homeless population – would be that there were not enough resources – that’s what a lot of people think is the major problem. Basically, if you have enough beds and if you have enough medical resources, there wouldn’t be an issue. But in my reporting, I actually found that, at least in Westwood, there are lots of resources. The issue is getting people to accept these resources because of mental illnesses.

So, I would walk around with Donovan Wilkes, the outreach specialist for Westwood who was hired about a year ago. He walks around at 5:30 in the morning, checking on the regulars. He would point out, “Oh, you know, he has a tumor in the back of his head,” “She can’t stand without stabilizing herself,” and he would say, “I keep trying to get them resources, but every time they decline.” He has all these resources; the real issue is getting people to accept them. And, he has said he’s called people to come out and talk to them, say, “Would you want to come get housing?” and every time they say, “No, thank you, I’m fine.”

KT: So what you’re saying is that you’ve sort of been following Westwood’s outreach specialist, who’s in charge of helping the homeless population in Westwood Village and in the neighborhood. And when he goes around trying to help individuals, they decline his help.

TR: Yes, that’s correct.

KT: Could you sort of walk us through some of the instances that you saw? How were the interactions between the people Wilkes spoke to and the homeless individuals who, at least from what Wilkes seems to be saying, clearly needed help but didn’t want it?

TR: I think the best example of this is Miss Mary. Miss Mary has been on the streets of Westwood for as long as anyone can remember. I think she’s been there the longest out of any the homeless individuals there. She’s an elderly woman, and she has pretty serious medical issues as well. Her legs are extremely swollen. She can’t walk without stabilizing herself with a shopping cart. She’s developed some skin issues. He’s tried every morning: He says, “Miss Mary, do you want some help, do you want some resources?” She’s not rude, but she’s very clear in saying no thank you. And although she’s not formally diagnosed, a lot of people think she has paranoid schizophrenia. She talks a lot about the government preventing her from going to her house, and so on and so forth.

There was one instance in which she wasn’t responsive when people tried to wake her in the morning, and (Wilkes) got this call. He automatically went to, “Oh my god, she’s dead.” This is something he constantly worries about all the time, he told me. He ran down there, and she was awake but she couldn’t really walk. Her legs were so incredibly swollen she couldn’t stand up without leaning on (Wilkes). He called the ambulance, and he was thinking the whole time, “Please accept help. Please accept help.”

The paramedics arrive. They said, “Do you want help?”

She said, “No, thank you, I’m fine.”

“How are you going to walk?”

“I’m fine.”

So she’s still out there. When I talk to her, she always says, “I got to get off the streets. I have got to get home.” People steal her blankets; it’s not fun, but because of her mental illness, she really can’t get these resources.

KT: How many individuals like Miss Mary would you fathom that there are in Westwood at least?

TR: The ones that I’ve seen, probably five or six. I’m sure there are more like this – these are just, in the limited time I’ve had to go out into Westwood, those are the cases I’ve seen.

KT: There are other outreach specialists in other parts of the city. How effective have they been in getting people like Miss Mary get the medical care that they at least appear to need?

TR: I’ve talked to not just outreach specialists like (Wilkes), but also medical professionals. I talked to one woman who said she can predict when people are going to die, whether it be in the next week or next six months – and there’s literally nothing she can do about it because these people won’t accept the help. And this is where you kind of get into the debate about should we help people against their will, which is uncomfortable, but the debate that a lot of people are struggling with.

KT: What’s sort of been the stance that the city, or at least the state government, has taken in this debate?

TR: The Los Angeles Supervisors agreed to encourage California – because this is a state law – to make an amendment to the Lanterman-Petris Act to expand the definition of “gravely disabled” to include the people who can’t get medical attention. The bill went through the State Assembly with very little opposition, but it ended up stopping in the State Senate before it was even presented because of some practicality issues. I think right now, in terms of the morality of the bill, many people are in favor of it. The largest issue is practical concerns, but I think in lower levels – not government – people are concerned that this will start to infringe on people’s basic right to deny care, which is really dangerous considering California’s history of institutionalizing people who didn’t need to be institutionalized.

KT: You mentioned something about practicality concerns. Could you touch a bit more on that?

TR: Yeah, so basically expanding the definition of “gravely disabled” would allow officials to institutionalize many more people. The issue is: Where are these people going to go? There’s already pressure on the mental health system. People already have to go from mental health care facilities to these waiting grounds in ER facilities, which are not ideal places for people with mental illness to wait for treatment. The concern is that without providing more resources to the mental health care system in California, this would just flood the system with people without having anywhere to put them.

KT: As I understand it, you also spoke to state officials. What is the sense you got from speaking to them about their stance on this bill or just the general debate surrounding involuntarily institutionalizing someone into a hospital or medical facility?

TR: I think this debate kind of gets at two fundamental rights that many Americans believe in – I think it’s the right to deny care and the right to live. Historically, I think a lot of officials have seen this bill as a pendulum swinging between these two rights. Before the Lanterman-Petris Act, I think many people thought it swung way too far to the right to live, and in the process completely absolved everyone of choice. But now, I think, many people are worried that it’s swinging too far in the other direction and we’re allowing people to die in the streets when there could have easily been medical intervention that could have saved their lives.

I think the hope for all of the people who are in favor of expanding this bill, the hope is that they want people after they get help to say, “Wow, thank you. I really wanted that, and I wish someone had done that maybe even sooner.” The danger is that you don’t know that people would want that, and so you’re kind of making this assumption that people would want care when you’re not entirely sure.

KT: So what’s been the tactic that outreach specialists have used to, I guess, basically do their jobs if homeless individuals don’t want their help or don’t want the services the city is offering to them?

TR: I think, unfortunately, it’s devolved into begging almost. I know Dr. Susan Partovi, a family medicine doctor who works at UCLA who has also worked on the streets, helping homeless individuals for almost 15 years, would say she offer people cigarettes. She would say, “Please, I will buy you this, I will buy you food. Will you please get medical help?” I know in the case of Miss Mary, (Wilkes) has tried everything. He’s really worried about her just on a human level. He really cares about her. And, it’s really hard to watch someone that you see every day, their health just deteriorate, and there’s literally nothing you can do to stop it.

I think more than anything, for these outreach specialists, it’s an internal debate. I know (Wilkes) struggles a lot with this question because it’s his job to make sure these people are safe, but he also is very aware of people’s rights and he doesn’t want to say, “Oh, just because this person has a mental illness, they can’t choose these things for themselves.” I don’t think it’s the homeless individuals who are saying, “You can’t take away my right to choose – my right to deny care.” Pretty much, it’s an internal conflict, and he’s very hesitant to call the department of mental health to have someone institutionalized, although I know in Miss Mary’s case he has done that.

KT: In your piece, you talk about an interaction you had with Miss Mary. Can you walk us through it? How as the experience? What was it like? What did she have you do? How was the conversation?

TR: Miss Mary is a really nice lady. I’ve kept in contact with her even after I’ve finished reporting for the story. She’s from the East Coast. She said she was in banking, details are a little fuzzy there. She’s not what you would think of as “crazy.” She’s really a kind person. I’d go down there, I would go get her coffee because she has trouble crossing the street – takes her a long time. We would chat for a bit. Over time, she kind of started to expect me and Amy, our photographer, to be there.

I ran into her in front of CVS – that’s where she panhandles in the day. I was picking up a prescription, and I was like, “Hi, Miss Mary, what have you been up to?” And she was like “Oh, just looking for you guys.” She’s really a nice woman, which makes it so much harder to see this happen to her. It’s been getting worse. I think everyone, including the other homeless individuals in Westwood, are really worried about her. They try to give her blankets, there are other homeless individuals, they give her anything extra they have. She says, “No, thank you, I’m fine.” She’ll give it to someone else. It’s really hard, especially knowing her on a personal level. I can see why (Wilkes) has this internal conflict.

KT: You did something that a lot of students usually wouldn’t do: You interacted with people who are homeless who either stay the night in Westwood or stay the day in Westwood, interacting with members of the community. What are some of the misconceptions that people in Westwood have, or even students in Westwood have about the homeless population here – or even just like the debate regarding this debate about involuntary hospitalization and providing medical care to those who need it?

TR: I think a lot of misconceptions, in terms of this debate, is that it’s very easy to say we should protect these people’s freedom of choice, that’s a fundamental right – that sort of thing. It’s a lot harder to interact with many of these individuals on an individual level, get to know them, have to watch their health deteriorate. And I know this is a criticism a lot of people I talk to have of the people who are against this bill. They say, “Well, they don’t really have a first-person perspective; they don’t know how it really is,” and I think that’s true. I don’t think that negates their argument, but it’s a lot easier said than done.

KT: We started off the podcast looking at the title, “the gravely disabled.” Did you see anybody who was “gravely disabled” in your reporting?

TR: So, a question I’ve thought about a lot, and I know (Wilkes) has too, is if Miss Mary would be one of those people that, after being institutionalized, would come back and say, “Thank you so much. I didn’t like living on the street.” That sort of thing. I don’t really know the answer to that, but I do think Miss Mary does want to live. I don’t think she wants to die on the street. This is kind of what (Wilkes) has told me: She still panhandles. She still gets up in the morning. She doesn’t just sit there. That makes me think that she still wants to live, and I would hope she would want to get better. But, it’s impossible to know.

KT: Clearly there’s a catch-22 here. On one hand, mental illnesses directly contribute to people who are homeless and their chances of potentially dying, and the state – not to mention the public – is sort of worried about this. But, on the other hand, though, some of these individuals refuse care, and policymakers don’t want to infringe on their individual rights. Is there a resolution to this dichotomy?

TR: I don’t really have a great answer to this question. I think this is the question that everyone is struggling with. I know a lot of people think this bill will be reintroduced later this year. And it’s hard to balance these two rights that are kind of fundamental to being an American, you know? I don’t know, I kind of like the analogy of a pendulum: It kind of just swings back and forth because there are kind of two identical forces pulling on it, and I think that will leave it in constant motion.

KT: Thank you, Teddy.

TR: You’re welcome, Keshav.

[music plays]

KT: That’s it for this week’s “In the Know” podcast. We’ll be back winter quarter with a new set of podcasts and a new set of topics. Got any ideas in the meantime for what we should talk about for a future show? Let us know at opinion@dailybruin.com.

[music plays]

From the Daily Bruin, I’m Keshav Tadimeti, and this is “In the Know.”

Jaylen Hands sped past his defender and toward an unblocked hoop, but his layup attempt spun off the rim.

The sophomore guard slammed both of his hands on the hardwood before running back on defense.

That show of frustration summed up UCLA men’s basketball’s (7-5) 80-66 loss to No. 15 Ohio State (11-1) on Saturday, capping a winless Midwest road trip for the Bruins.

In the first half, coach Steve Alford’s squad turned the ball over 12 times, leading to a three-point deficit at halftime despite outshooting its opponent 48.3 percent to 36.1 percent from the field.

UCLA’s defensive resurgence resulted from heavily relying on a 2-3 zone – Hands had four first-half steals as the Bruins repeatedly deflected passes into the middle of the defense.

The zone defense helped limit forward Kaleb Wesson – Ohio State’s leading scorer – to 5-of-11 shooting from the field for 15 points, but he also pulled down eight offensive rebounds in 29 minutes.

Instead of playing through Wesson in the post, the Buckeyes’ perimeter players attacked the paint to set up open looks for their teammates.

Ohio State started to solve the zone in the second half, shooting 48.4 percent thanks to numerous defensive miscommunications.

Ohio State guard C.J. Jackson dropped 20 of his 22 points in the second period. Guard Keyshawn Woods racked up 10 assists, including two near half-court lobs when the UCLA defense fell asleep and left a Buckeye player unguarded underneath the hoop.

While the Bruins only turned the ball over three times in the second half, they missed seven layups.

Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes led UCLA with 13 points at the half, but only managed one point in the first 17-plus minutes of the second half. Wilkes finished with 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Center Moses Brown managed only nine points, two rebounds and two blocks, often matching up against Wesson on the block. After becoming the first freshman in school history to record double-doubles in each of his first three games, Brown has only registered one since.

Hands and redshirt freshman forward Cody Riley added 13 and 10 points each.

Looking Ahead

UCLA has one more nonconference game – a home tilt against Liberty University (10-4) on Dec. 29 – before conference play starts in January.

The Flames have lost to every high-major school on their schedule this season, and their leading scorer Scottie James averages 12.4 points per game.

As a result, the Bruins don’t have many games left on their schedule against highly ranked teams.

As of Saturday, No. 18 Arizona State is the only Pac-12 program ranked in the AP Top 25. The highest-ranked Pac-12 school according to kenpom.com was No. 42 Oregon, followed by No. 44 Arizona State, No. 49 Arizona, No. 52 Washington and No. 67 UCLA.

University police arrested two men Wednesday for vandalizing the Bruin Bear.

UCPD Lt. Kevin Kilgore said in an email that Louis Torres, 19, and Willie Johnson, 18, were charged with conspiracy and felony vandalism after allegedly painting the Bruin Bear statue last month.

The university erects chalkboard walls to protect the bear and other statues during rivalry week, the week leading up to the annual football match between USC and UCLA.

One of the walls surrounding the Bruin Bear statue was found removed and the statue inside covered in red and yellow paint on Nov. 15. UCPD later determined the statue was vandalized Nov. 13 at about 2 a.m., resulting in over $15,000 in damages.

Torres and Johnson are not students at either of the two universities. They are currently held at the Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

This case is still under investigation. Anyone with information about the case can call UCPD detectives at 310-825-1491.

Michaela Onyenwere said the Bruins wanted to win for a special reason.

“We knew that we were coming back to (redshirt senior guard Chrissy Baird’s) hometown,” the sophomore forward said. “We wanted to make her homecoming really nice for her.”

UCLA women’s basketball (6-5) captured a 78-47 road victory over Illinois-Chicago (2-7) on Wednesday night to get the team’s record over .500.

The Bruins’ matchup against the Flames was only Baird’s third appearance of the season. But the Wheaton, Illinois native played more minutes in Wednesday’s contest than she has all season.

Baird walked onto the team in 2014 and is now a scholarship athlete. Despite going 0-of-4 from the field against Illinois-Chicago, she pulled down two rebounds in UCLA’s win.

The Bruins started game with a 12-0 run and held the Flames to just five points in the first quarter, holding a 39-15 advantage at halftime.

Illinois-Chicago trailed for the entirety of the game, but outscored UCLA 22-19 in the third quarter.

“We had a mental lapse (in the third quarter), but we were able to overcome that,” said redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer. “We can’t allow that to happen because we are going to play better teams and that’s going to be a downfall.”

The Bruins held the Flames to 10 points and 21.4 percent shooting in the final quarter.

Coach Cori Close said although UCLA struggled defensively in the third quarter, the Bruins made it difficult for the Flames to follow through.

“We played a really good mix of player-to-player and zone defense, trying to keep them off balance,” Close said. “When we we’re focused in and dialed up, then we were able to execute our game plan.”

The Bruins secured 56 rebounds, 29 of which came from the offensive glass. UCLA ranks fourth in the NCAA for offensive rebounding.

Onyenwere – who had eight offensive boards – led the Bruins in both scoring and rebounding, logging 19 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

“(The) boxing out piece is something we’ve really been focusing on,” Onyenwere said. “We did a better job in getting offensive boards and getting defensive boards and shutting them down.”

Defensively, the Bruins forced a season-high 27 turnovers, 12 of which came in the first quarter.

“(We were) trying to make them feel uncomfortable and not just easily (letting them) move the ball up the court,” Drummer said. “Good credit to our guards and everybody for pressuring the ball.”

Drummer went 6-of-7 from the field, tying her career high of 16 points.

UCLA shot 37.5 percent from the field and went 3-of-21 from behind the 3-point line.

Close said the Bruins took too many 3s.

“They were giving us the 3,” Close said. “Instead of hunting for really good shots, a more high percentage shot and working really hard to make easier opportunities for ourselves, we settled (for the 3).”

The Bruins shot 53.3 percent from the field in the first quarter, but finished the game at the 37.5 percent mark.

“Our biggest challenge was trying not to play down to their level and trying to play strong for forty minutes,” Drummer said. “Let’s not look at the scoreboard, let’s just play.”

UCLA will take a nine-day break and will return home to host Cal Poly on Dec. 28.

At the 13:16 mark of the first half, the Bruins boasted an eight-point lead.

The Bearcats bounced back – and then some.

In its first true road game of the season, UCLA men’s basketball (7-4) lost 93-64 to Cincinnati (10-2) on Wednesday night. The Bearcats responded to the Bruins’ fast start by putting together a 28-4 run of their own, burying the Bruins in their worst lost since Dec. 20, 2014 against Kentucky.

This is UCLA’s second straight loss – the second time this season that the Bruins have lost back-to-back games.

The Bearcats outrebounded the Bruins by 13, outscored them by eight in the paint, and outshot them by 12 percent from the field and 22.5 percent from 3-point range.

UCLA started 7-of-11 from the field, but went 3-of-14 to close out the first half. Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes had 12 points in the first frame, while the rest of the Bruins combined for 19.

Wilkes finished the game with a team-high 21 points.

Heading into halftime, the Bearcats built a 48-31 lead in their second-best offensive half of the season. The only time this year that Cincinnati scored more than 48 points in the first half was against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 27.

The Bearcats’ 93 points were also the second-most the Bruins have allowed all season, and the 29-point lead Cincinnati held was the largest deficit UCLA has seen this year.

Sophomore guard Jaylen Hands dished out a season-high 12 assists, but he went 1-of-5 from the field, with all of his field goal attempts coming from behind the arc.

Freshman center Moses Brown scored two points on 1-of-2 shooting in the first period, but ended the game with 12 points and six rebounds. Redshirt freshman Cody Riley started on the other block and notched an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

UCLA will head to Chicago to take on No. 15 Ohio State on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic.

Cori Close said the team’s mentality throughout the past week revolved around two words.

“Fun and focus,” the coach said. “(I told them,) ‘Let’s work on having more fun together, working on plays with each other.’ … I really thought they lived that.”

UCLA women’s basketball (5-5) shot a season-high 52.5 percent against Oklahoma State (7-2) en route to a 71-59 win Sunday to put itself back at .500.

The Bruins blew its lead 40 seconds into the third quarter when the Cowgirls knotted the score at 33. But UCLA held Oklahoma State scoreless for about six minutes and strung together a 14-0 run to give the Bruins a 47-33 advantage – a lead it held for good.

UCLA outscored Oklahoma State 20-7 in the third quarter. Close said the determinant key of the lopsided scoring margin was rebounding after the Bruins outrebounded the Cowgirls 40-23 on the game.

“Rebounding gives us so many more shots on the goal and really demoralizes the other team,” Close said. “If we can continue to hunt for other shots that are high percentage, not only are we going to make more but we are also going to rebound more.”

Redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and five offensive and five defensive rebounds.

“I get a lot of offensive rebounding, but I could do better defensively,” Drummer said. “So going in, that was my focus – to try to balance it out.”

Senior guard Kennedy Burke led the Bruins with 20 points and went 9-of-14 from the field, including a buzzer-beater layup assisted by sophomore forward Lauryn Miller to end the third period. Burke returned after sitting out the Fresno State game due to an undisclosed injury.

“I was pretty happy (with my game today) because, even though the circumstances for me weren’t that great, I just took it day by day,” Burke said. “I knew I was going to be 100 percent today.”

Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere added 16 points to the Bruins’ score on 6-of-12 shooting. Close said she was pleased with her performance.

“(Onyenwere has) really worked on expanding her toolbox and her game,” Close said. “She’s a consistent outside shooter now. She attacked people off the bounce from the high post today.”

The Bruins had a season-high 50 points in the paint, attributing to 70 percent of their total scoring. Close said UCLA’s success was the result of a total team effort.

“To say that we pounded them in the paint when we don’t really have a true post player – we’re doing that with a lot of guards and a couple forwards,” Close said. “That’s (redshirt freshman guard) Lindsey (Corsaro) getting into the paint as much as it is (Onyenwere) getting points in the paint.”

UCLA will take on Illinois-Chicago with an opportunity to get back to a winning record in its penultimate nonconference game.

UCLA was handed its first home loss since January of this year Saturday afternoon.

Missed free throws and poor late game execution plagued the Bruins.

UCLA men’s basketball (7-3) suffered a 74-72 upset loss to Belmont (8-1) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, handing the Bruins their first home loss since Jan. 13. Coach Steve Alford said the team lacked effort, but he took full responsibility for the outcome following the game.

“I didn’t like our energy, I didn’t like our attention to detail, our enthusiasm,” Alford said. “That falls squarely on my shoulders. I did a really poor job of getting them ready because I thought in our eight, nine, 10 games now, that was the most lethargic, less energy effort.”

UCLA led for over 32 minutes in the contest, but could not execute on the offensive end down the stretch, converting on just nine of its 24 attempts from the free-throw line in the second half. The Bruins also made just two total field goals in the final eight minutes of the game.

Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes said the offense has to do better job of creating opportunities for itself rather than always relying on the guy with the basketball to make a play.

“We’ve got to rotate the ball, move without the ball,” Wilkes said. “Every time somebody passes the ball we all just sit and look at each other. I mean, you can’t score, you can’t get open when you’re doing that.”

The Bruins took a three-point lead into the half after Wilkes poured in 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, but after scoring just one point in the second half, Wilkes said he too felt partly responsible for the team’s diminished effort late in the game.

“I’ll take a lot of responsibility – I know (Alford) probably said he’d take a lot of responsibility – but really I think with me not playing at a high intensity, that kind of filters out to other players on the team,” Wilkes said. “I have to come to play every half and the whole game.”

UCLA’s lack of effort was not exclusive to the offensive end, however. Belmont scored the game-winning field goal on a backdoor cut with less than three seconds remaining, a play it had been running with continued success in the closing minutes.

Alford said he and his staff did their best to prepare the Bruins for the backdoor cut leading up to the game, but admitted that his team’s inexperience could have been the reason for the consistent breakdowns during crunch time.

“It’s a young group, so maybe we are putting too much on them as far as scouting reports and those types of things,” Alford said. “But I thought we covered the back door and I would guess we gave up three or four back doors in the second half alone, not to mention the last play of the game.”

Despite the frustration of Saturday’s loss on both ends of the ball, UCLA will have to regroup before heading out on the road to face Cincinnati (9-1) and Ohio State (9-1). Redshirt junior guard Prince Ali said the pair of upcoming nine-win matchups will be a good test of resilience for the Bruins.

“We’re about to play two really good teams, especially coming off of what just happened,” Ali said. “So it’s going to show how tough we are, just going out there and just competing.”

The Bruins will tip off against the Bearcats at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night.

“Mortal Engines” tries to be the steampunk version of “Star Wars,” but still falls short.

First-time director Christian Rivers borrowed heavily from the same character sheets and story beats as the global science fiction franchise when making this film, and it shows. This isn’t necessarily his fault; Rivers was previously a storyboard artist and visual effects coordinator for nearly all of producer Peter Jackson’s projects, from “Dead Alive” to “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.” The fantasy influences make “Mortal Engines” visually spectacular, but narratively subpar. Adapted from a young adult novel of the same name, the film runs into a recurring issue: There are so many characters and such an extensive story that it would have been better served as a television series rather than a two-hour movie that has lost all potential depth and nuance.

Admittedly the setting is intriguing, featuring a naturally grown-over Earth still rebuilding itself nearly a millennium after a global conflict called the Sixty Minute War left the planet devastated. Although typical settlements still exist, there are also “traction cities,” large mechanized communities that move across the landscape and consume the resources of smaller cities. Think “Howl’s Moving Castle,” but more vicious.

It’s on one of these traction cities that the audience is introduced to Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), a mysterious girl who is on a mission for revenge. On the giant roaming city of London, she attempts to assassinate her target Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), the de facto leader of the London ship, who she blames for the death of her mother. Young archaeological apprentice Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), a plucky but inexperienced hero, ends up thrust into the wilds outside of London alongside Hester when Thaddeus pushes him overboard. Hester and Tom are saved by another tropelike figure: Anna Fang (Jihae), an outlaw leader of the “resistance” group in this world, who rescues them both with her airship in a yawn-inducing fight scene. Once revealed that Thaddeus is building a large old-tech weapon in order to plunder a stationary city of its resources, it’s up to the film’s heroes to stop him.

Some of this may sound familiar. A sinister villain with a world-ending weapon? Check. Skillful young apprentices shepherded by an outlaw in a fast ship? Double check. A resistance force trying desperately to fend off the overbearing influence of villains who speak with English accents? The force should be strong with this one.

But it truly isn’t. It is neither surprising nor entertaining when the audience figures out that Hester’s mother left her with the ultimate key to stopping Thaddeus’ weapon. Learning more about Hester’s parentage is similarly uninspiring. Making these undeniable connections to “Star Wars” only serves to show how unable “Mortal Engines” is to stand on its own.

Hester is the classic “chosen one” archetype, only in this film it isn’t some metaphysical expertise or sage mentor that forces her to be the protagonist of the film. Hester doesn’t have to make a choice about how she can best fulfill her destiny and stop the bad guy: She just has to show up.

The final showdown of the film also echoes the Death Star run from the first “Star Wars” film. The ragtag group of resistance pilots must face a barrage of enemy fire and plant precise shots of their own in order to successfully stop the attack on their home. Only this time, instead of X-wing fighters, there’s a conglomeration of steam-powered airships and old-timey Gatling guns. It is frustrating that a viewer could pick out so many iconic scenes from a classic space opera in what is supposed to be a young adult steampunk story.

There are some redeeming qualities about “Mortal Engines,” even if they don’t make up for the neutered story. The character Shrike (Stephen Lang), an armored zombielike creature with glowing green eyes, is an imposing figure, and his pursuit of Hester throughout the movie makes him seem villainous, but that’s only his robotlike nature. His character arc is by far the most interesting and heartfelt of the entire film, and not nearly enough time was spent on his backstory. There’s subtle humor poking fun at current pop culture icons, and enough charm to keep audiences invested in the story for a short time.

But ultimately the film suffers from the same problem that so many fantasy movies before it have endured: It is hampered by its format and is comparable to too many original films without being original enough itself. Hester may be “the chosen one” in this story, but “Mortal Engines” will likely be just another small blip on the box office radar.

“Moonlight” was only the beginning for director Barry Jenkins.

Almost two years after his second feature film’s best picture win, Jenkins’ name has resurfaced in the Oscars conversation following the release of his highly anticipated new film “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Adapted from James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, the film is a delicate period romance and a poignant depiction of racial injustice that showcases Jenkins’ penchant for poetic visual storytelling. Although his third feature film is more flawed than its predecessor, “If Beale Street Could Talk” is an undeniably beautiful portrait of a couple torn apart by a corrupt criminal justice system.

The film chronicles the relationship between 22-year-old Alonzo (Stephan James), who goes by Fonny, and 19-year-old Tish (KiKi Layne) as they navigate life and love in 1970s Harlem. The picture-perfect love story is almost immediately shattered, however, when Fonny is incarcerated on a false rape accusation. After Tish discovers she’s pregnant, her and her family band together in a desperate effort to clear his name.

Tish and Fonny’s relationship is told primarily via flashbacks interwoven throughout the present-day turmoil. Tender moments – ranging from house hunting to their first time having sex – are juxtaposed with the bleak reality of the current situation. Jenkins intentionally paints the fragments of their past as picturesque to illustrate the idyllic future that racism could potentially deny the young couple.

While the flashbacks fulfill a pointed purpose, the utopic framing of the past sacrifices some of the authenticity of their relationship. No relationship, nor any single person, is perfect, and both Tish and Fonny lack the flawed complexity of fully fleshed out characters. The two leads frequently come off as one-dimensional, characterized primarily by the love they feel for one another. As the story effectively highlights issues of racism and imprisonment, the characters’ personalities feel secondary to their circumstance.

One of the more compelling characters is Tish’s mom Sharon, played masterfully by Regina King. In an unjust world that seems pitted against Tish and Fonny, Sharon is a steadfast force of compassion while refusing to give in to a system that victimizes her family. She celebrates when her teenage daughter announces her out-of-wedlock pregnancy and she travels to Puerto Rico in the hopes of convincing Fonny’s accuser of her mistaken identification. King deftly balances Sharon’s gentle demeanor and the fire burning just below the surface, infusing the character with a level of empathy that is rarely achieved in fiction.

Visually, the film is stunning, incorporating vibrant splashes of yellows, greens and reds in both the costumes and the set design that radiate warmth despite the dire situation. The flashbacks are accompanied by sweeping, graceful camera movements that reflect the intimacy between the characters and breathe life into their romance. Conversely, the present-day scenes feature more stagnant camerawork that matches the realistic tone. Centrally framed close-ups in which the characters look simultaneously at and through the camera establish a vulnerability signature to Jenkins’ work.

Jenkins is as much a poet as he is a filmmaker, and “If Beale Street Could Talk” seamlessly cuts from past to present like free verse poetry. Tish narrates both time periods, and although the voiceovers showcase the depth of Baldwin’s prose, they feel unnecessary at times. Jenkins is more than capable of telling a visual story without relying on voiceover, and the narration distracts from the subtle emotions captured on screen. In spite of its shortcomings, the film avoids the constraints of other formulaic Hollywood dramas due to the absence of a rigid plot structure. The film is less concerned with plot and more focused on evoking emotion through nonlinear storytelling, which provides a refreshing viewing experience.

Much of the film’s emotional impact stemmed from the story’s political relevance, even nearly 50 years after the novel takes place. “If Beale Street Could Talk” is both a moving love story and a richly layered look at how the American criminal justice system works against black men. It is a fragile, melancholic romance that rejects the despondency of tragedy – a social critique that refuses to preach. But although the critique was powerful, Tish and Fonny were repeatedly rendered hollow by the emphasis placed on their starry-eyed romance. Nevertheless, the film embodies both the struggle and the perseverance that Jenkins, like Baldwin, argues are fundamental aspects of the black experience.

The film opens with a direct quote from the book: “Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street,” cueing the audience in to the symbolism of the title. Beale Street represents the black voices that are too often silenced, and the film serves as a 119-minute snapshot of what they would say if given the chance.

A student group at UCLA helped create a new engineering course which will focus on a cryptocurrency technology called Blockchain.

The new course in the department of engineering was designed by Blockchain at UCLA, a student organization founded last year that offers events and discussions for students to explore blockchain technology. Blockchain is an encrypted way of storing a chain of transactional records that is publicly accessible and resistant to modification.

John Villasenor, a professor in electrical engineering, public policy and management, will teach the class, which is listed as Engineering 188 and will focus on blockchain programming.

Jason Huan, a co-founder of the club, and Andrew Battat, a second-year computer science student, will serve as teaching assistants.

“It’s going to be the first time the class is offered and we’re really excited to do it,” Huan said.

The class will be open to all engineering students who have taken Computer Science 31 and Computer Science 32.

Huan, a second-year computer science student who heads all technology projects for the club, co-founded Blockchain at UCLA last year along with students Andrew Musk, Adam Spar, Anthony Humay, Douglas Wong and Veronica Reynolds.

“I wanted to develop the ecosystem at UCLA because I think blockchain as a technology provides a lot of opportunities to students, and having a club would help grow that community here at UCLA” Huan said.

Musk, a third-year computer science student who heads consulting and communications for the club, said they founded the club because they felt students lacked opportunities to explore cryptocurrency.

“There wasn’t any formal space existing at UCLA at the time. A lot of other schools had existing clubs, majors or classes within the school but UCLA had nothing,” Musk said. “So we wanted to show UCLA students first what (blockchain) really is, and second what you can do with it.”

Huan said he hopes the club can continue increasing their membership in the upcoming year and help reach more students who share an interest in blockchain technology.

Huan highlighted his time as a leader of the club as one of his most rewarding experiences at UCLA.

“It sounds cheesy but the leadership experience Blockchain UCLA has given me is invaluable. It’s more in-depth than just telling people what to do,” Huan said. “It’s about executing tasks not just within your own ability but with a team.”

The club hosts multiple events each quarter including conferences, speakers and tech-talks open to anyone with an interest in blockchain technology. It hosted a 500-person conference in October that brought in speakers from the FBI, Microsoft and other big companies to discuss the applications of blockchain.

Huan said the conference was the club’s biggest achievement and that they are already planning another one for next year.

“Starting from a year ago, we had been building up to that moment and having that conference was a big milestone showing what we can achieve in the future,” Huan said.

Musk added that the engagement between students and professionals from major corporations and institutes that took place during the conference became one of his favorite parts of the club.

“People are just generally very open,” Musk said. “Last year there were people (at our cyber-day event) that were billionaires or had founded insane companies, but they were really open to speaking to undergrads about (blockchain) or presenting opportunities, which I feel like you don’t get everywhere.”

Blockchain at UCLA also provides an education series for students looking for an introduction to blockchain. The 10-week program offers weekly lectures for undergraduate and graduate students and informs students about the context and applications of blockchain.

Lulu Essoyan, a second-year cognitive science student participating in the series, said she joined the program to learn more about cryptocurrency in general. She attends a lecture each Tuesday where she eats pizza and learns about the basics of the technology.

Musk said he likes teaching students in the series about the different applications of blockchain.

“A lot of people hear about it and make assumptions without really knowing what goes behind it, so it’s cool showing them what more you can do with blockchain and bitcoin,” Musk said.

Musk said he hopes students will be able to learn about all the different opportunities that blockchain can offer through the club’s events and the new engineering course.

Ryan Gosling stepped behind the camera to contribute toward the nonfiction book “Congo Stories.”

Actor and now photographer Gosling was joined by co-authors John Prendergest and Fidel Bafilemba and afterward author Chouchou Namegabe for a panel discussion hosted Monday afternoon at the Fowler Museum. Their book, central to the discussion, highlights five centuries of exploitation and the Congolese people’s subsequent resistance. Each panelist recounted either their contributions to the book or their personal experiences working in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hosted by Kate Mackintosh, executive director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law, the panel discussion covered human rights violations and Western exploitation of Congo’s natural resources to raise awareness of the atrocities occurring.

“Despite reliance on billions of dollars of humanitarian aid, Congo is not as dependent on the United States and Europe as (the U.S.) been on the Congo,” Prendergest said.

Congolese resources, such as tungsten, tin and tantalum, are used in phones and laptops today. Prendergest said the country’s mineral wealth gave rise to a long history of exploitation by the West, beginning with colonization by Portugal in the late 15th century. Though no longer colonized, Congo still falls victim to Europe and America in terms of resource extraction based on cultural demand, and supplies a range of raw materials including ivory and copper. The situation only became worse in the late 19th century, with the creation of the auto industry and manufacture of rubber tires in Ireland. King Leopold II of Belgium then began to send armies into Congo to extract the rubber from its rainforests, exploiting the nation even more.

But the maltreatment of Congo hasn’t been restricted to just national resources. Bafilemba, a Congo native, said some women and children work under deplorable conditions, often forced to do so at gunpoint. Through appeals made to the United States government, former President Barack Obama passed legislation to ensure companies selling their products in the United States source their materials from conflict-free mines. While President Donald Trump attempted to repeal this legislation, bipartisan support of the bill prevented him from following through. Though conditions have improved drastically as a result of this legislation, corruption is still prevalent, Bafilemba said.

Bafilemba’s contributions to the project were often based on his own experiences, but Gosling was inspired to shoot after watching movies like “Hotel Rwanda” and Angelina Jolie’s documentary “First They Killed My Father.” Both films feature other countries dealing with similar issues. Gosling said his photographs, shot before the book’s conception, exhibit a theme of hope, highlighting everyday moments such as a girl preparing for school, a mother bringing home newborn twins and a boy playing in a Spider-Man costume.

“(The pictures show) a refusal to be broken,” Gosling said. “(They’re) a visual window into a sense of hope.”

Namegabe, also optimistic about the nation’s future, spoke about the silent war on women in the form of rape and sexual violence. As a reporter, she collected stories of Congolese women being taken to the jungle and raped repeatedly. In one particularly gruesome instance, the rapists poured gasoline over a woman’s genitalia and lit her on fire; the woman survived and was then forced to eat the flesh of her murdered children, Namegabe said.

Though female audience members visibly teared up at Namegabe’s anecdotes, the panelist said 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege bring hope to the women of the region as civil rights activists advocating for these victims. More recently, some legislation has been passed in Congo to outlaw acts of sexual violence. Furthermore, she finds hope in the presence of the audience members engaging in their discussion. The panelists concluded with a call to action, encouraging audiences to openly support the people of Congo.

“You are the hope for us. You want to know the Congo story,” Namegabe said. “The first action is to talk about it – to talk about it is to act.”