UCLA students on edge to evacuate campus due to Los Angeles fires

UC Los Angeles campus is not presently in the evacuation zone for the Palisades fire, but many students have chosen to leave amid poor air quality and the university’s decision to move classes online on Jan. 10, according to the Los Angeles Times.

On Sunday, UC Los Angeles (UCLA) officials told students there was no immediate danger to the Westwood campus in an BruinPost to the community. But when the fire moved toward Brentwood on Sunday, they issued notices to students warning them “to stay vigilant and ready to evacuate” if conditions changed.

“We’re continuing to monitor the situation very closely and we have plans in place for whatever situation might arise,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk posted on Instagram. “As of now, there is no evacuation order or warning for our campus. But I know that many of us are facing real challenges. There continues to be a lot of uncertainty and fear about the future. There’s concern about air quality. There is a lot of worry about homes.”

In the case of a mandatory evacuation order, UCLA has a plan to bus students off-site — over 14,000 students live on campus. From meeting points on campus, the university would provide transportation to alternative housing and update students through Bruin Alert, UCLA’s public alert and warning system.

Last weekend, many students already made the move to evacuate. The LA Times said the campus was empty except for a few tourists. Some students at dorms stood on the street with packed bags.

Many students have criticized the campus for choosing to remain open, including second-year biology major Titi Olotu, who went viral on TikTok for her criticism of the campus.

“I wish things had been done better overall,” Olotu said to the Times.

The Times said most of the students who remained tended to be resident assistants and international students whose families are abroad.

“At least thousands have left,” UCLA resident hall assistant Tommy Contreras said to the Times. “I was on campus and yesterday I saw just one other person.”

UC faces cut under Newsom’s proposed budget

The University of California (UC) is facing a nearly 8% cut to their state funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year, under Governor Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal revealed Jan. 10. The California State University (CSU) is also receiving a 8% cut to their state funding.

The UC and its ten campuses would see a decline of $396.6 million in funding under the governor’s proposal for the next year, according to EdSource.

Newsom plans to defer a previously promised budget increase of 5% until 2027-28.

UC President Michael V. Drake expressed concern over how the cuts might affect “our students and campus services,” according to EdSource.

The proposal is not final, and Newsom and lawmakers will negotiate over the next several months as updated revenue projections become periodically available before the budget is finalized in the summer, EdSource said.

In 2022, Newsom announced multiyear compact agreements where the UC and CSU were due to receive 5% annual budget increases for making progress toward goals like increasing graduation rates, enrolling more California residents and eliminating equity gaps. The cuts to funding could make progress toward those goals more difficult, but Drake has not publicly stated his concerns.

“Despite a growing deficit and continued fiscal uncertainty, the governor is making thoughtful decisions during an extraordinarily difficult budget period by implementing but deferring a 5 percent funding increase pledged in the multi-year funding compact for the University,” Drake said in an official statement on Jan. 10.

“These decisions will position our state and its students for a prosperous future once budgetary challenges subside,” he continued.

New UC Davis study reveals potential of storing carbon in buildings to address climate change

Construction materials like concrete and plastic have the potential to “lock away” tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers at UC Davis and Stanford University. The study shows that combined with steps to decarbonize the economy, storing C02 in buildings could “help the world achieve goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” UC Davis’ public relations reported.

“The potential is pretty large,” UC Davis graduate student Elisabeth Van Roijen, who led the study, said to UC Davis.

Carbon sequestration — the focus of the study — takes carbon dioxide, either from where it is produced or from the atmosphere, converts it into a stable form and stores it away from the atmosphere where it cannot contribute to climate change, UC Davis said.

Some schemes involve injecting carbon underground or storing it deep within the ocean, but they pose practical and environmental risks, UC Davis said.

Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sabbie Miller and Steve Davis at Stanford University worked alongside Van Roijen and calculated the potential to store carbon in common building materials including concrete, asphalt, plastics, wood and brick. The work was supported by Miller’s Faculty Early Career Development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The team calculated that if 10% of the world’s concrete aggregate production was able to undergo carbon sequestration, it could absorb a gigaton of CO2.

“If feasible, a little bit of storage in concrete could go a long way,” Miller said to UC Davis.

A version of this article appeared on p. 2 of the Jan. 16, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

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Lizzy Rager
Lizzy Rager (she/her) is the Lead News Editor for the 2024-25 school year. She can be reached at lizzyrager@dailynexus.com