A NEW BILINGUAL ADMISSIONS GUIDE from the UC system outlines UC's admission requirements, financial aid and student housing options, and other essential information. Titled "Great futures start here" or "Un futuro brillante comienza aquí," the 36-page booklet contains current fee levels and new financial aid information. It also gives prospective students a brief summary of changes to the minimum eligibility requirements that will take effect in upcoming years.

MACARTHUR FOUNDATION awards or "genius grants" were recently given to two UC faculty members: Joseph DeRisi from UC San Francisco and Maria Mavroudi from UC Berkeley. DeRisi is an associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics and has designed new tools for exploring the activity of genes understanding such infectious diseases as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and malaria. Mavroudi is an assistant professor of history and an expert on Greek and Arabic cultural interaction in the Middle Ages. The prestigious annual awards provide recipients with $500,000 - with no strings attached - over a five-year period.

THE NCAA'S ANNUAL report on athletes' graduation rates shows that 62 percent of all Division I scholarship athletes entering college as freshmen in 1997-98 earned degrees within six years, compared with 60 percent of all students. The figures derive from data collected for 585,928 students at 328 colleges, with 17,118 athletes among them.

SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE in Moraga released a report Oct. 15 that concluded that the college was duped into believing it would receive a series of donations totaling $121 million dollars. The report described an elaborate scheme that began in 1997 and included forged documents and fake identities. Based on the anonymous pledge, the liberal arts school east of San Francisco built a $26 million dollar science center. The money never came and the college was left with the bill. The college's president announced last month that he would resign on Jan. 1.

STUDENTS ARE LEAVING college owing more and more, and that swelling debt is outpacing the rise in other higher-education costs, reports the Seattle Times. "It means the most educated individuals in our society, who would go out and do the best financially, are also the ones entering their careers with the heaviest debt we've ever asked our graduates to carry," says Douglas Breithaupt, president of the College Planning Network, a Seattle nonprofit. Nationally, the average debt load for undergraduates had reached $18,900 in 2002, according to the most recent survey by lender Nellie Mae.

ETIQUETTE SKILLS in the workplace are the subject of two new graduate student workshops at UC San Diego. The campus's Career Services Center is offering, "Oh, Behave!" Etiquette Skills for Graduate Students, in November. Megan Pincus Kajitani, graduate student career advisor, who is organizing the events, says, "These students are intelligent and well-educated, but this does not always translate to personal confidence and social graces, which are crucial for landing a competitive job."

A FEDERAL JUDGE in Pennsylvania has ruled that Internet-service providers must notify network users -- and inform them of their legal rights -- before turning their names over to record-company officials accusing them of illegal song swapping. The recording industry has been aggressively suing suspected song swappers. In October, the industry fired off another batch of lawsuits against 750 people it accuses of music piracy. Twenty-five campus-network users, at 13 colleges and universities -- not UC Davis -- were named in the suits.

UC IRVINE reports that California's hate crime laws - among the oldest and most comprehensive in the nation - are unevenly interpreted and enforced across the state. Irvine's California Policy Research Center found that a little more than 40 percent of local police and sheriff departments do not have a hate crime policy to guide their implementation of the state laws, even though they are charged with the responsibility of enforcing hate crime statutes.

UC MERCED is seeking applications from prospective freshman and transfer students who wish to be the first to enroll at the new UC campus opening next year. Students can submit applications from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30 for fall 2005. UC Merced's fall semester officially begins on Aug. 29, 2005, with the first day of instruction set for Sept. 6, 2005.

STATE TREASURER Phil Angelides wants to create a $5 billion endowment for California higher education through the development and possible sale of state-owned properties, including urban land and unused warehouses. With public funding for the state's colleges and universities slipping even as their enrollments grow, Angelides said his proposal could ultimately provide an extra $300 million annually for scholarships, counseling and academic preparation efforts. He said the money should supplement, not replace, existing state funding.

FORMER VICE PRESIDENT Al Gore spoke at UC Berkeley last week. "There is a climate crisis," Gore said. "We have to work within our political system to share the facts about what is going on, and make ethical choices about what is right and what is wrong, what we have to do and what we have to stop doing." Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, joined Gore onstage following the hour-long presentation and said, "I'm not sure whether to be inspired or depressed." Gore replied, "Inspired."

-- By Clifton B. Parker