Police Enforce Speed with New Toy

UC Santa Barbara

Campus Police are using a new, laser-based device to curb speeding on campus and on Highway 217.

Officers stopped 88 drivers and issued 43 citations in the first week of using the device. Cpl. Matt Bowman said they will continue a campaign of stricter enforcement until the number of speeders declines.

“We are citing drivers going above 32 mph, the safe speed on Mesa Road, even though 25 is the posted limit,” he said. “We also intend to increase enforcement on Highway 217, where drivers sometimes hit 80 or 90 mph.”

The new clocking device — which costs $4,000 — works like a radar gun, except it can target specific vehicles more easily and determine the speed of a vehicle more accurately. Officers will use the device in the mornings and evenings when people are rushing to and from work, and will not try to hide their presence as they stand near the Mesa Road intersection and Highway 217.

“We are just trying to get people to slow down,” Bowman said.

Backpack Theft Common at UCI

New University

UC Irvine

UCI Campus Police have reported that backpack theft is the most frequent crime on campus and occurs more often during midterms and finals in the library.

“The backpack thefts usually occur during the midterms and finals, when the crooks know that a lot of these students are really into the books, and their attentions are somewhat directed to their studies,” Campus Police Capt. Al Brown said.

Brown said auto thefts are also high, but decreasing due to vigilant patrolling in parking lots. Officers also provide escorts for attendees of special events and concerts.

“[The UCIPD has taken] a more proactive stance, concentrating on going through those lots,” Brown said.

“We keep people moving, let them know that our presence is there. In cooperation with housing, they are doing their own checking of the lots in the evening and nighttime hours.”

UCLA Students Build Lunar Lego Model

The Daily Bruin

UC Los Angeles

Engineering students in a space hardware design class are building models of lunar modules that could be used for future aerospace missions. The models — built from Lego bricks, a computer chip and thermal motion and optical censors — will search for ice.

“It makes me want to go into aerospace engineering even more than before,” said Chester Lin, a fourth-year mechanical aerospace engineering student. “If you just sit in the classroom and write equations all day, you lose half the picture and this is the way to see the whole picture.”

The models must survive a series of tests, such as a four-foot drop and navigating through a terrain of mini-mountains and craters.

Teaching assistant Rocky Khullar said the biggest challenge for the students is to use their classroom knowledge and apply it to their projects.

“People have experience with equations and number punching, but in an experiment like this you have to be very creative,” he said.

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