University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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.24 Alumni giving bacic For those who didn ' t feel as connected to the university, SAA allowed students to make UCLA their homes. Student Alumni Association, often known as SAA, is the student volunteer program that worked on behalf of the UCLA Alumni Association. Throughout the academic year, SAA planned numerous events to connect alumni, students and the university. These events included Blue and Gold Week, Dinner for 12 Strangers, Spring Sing and Interview With a Bruin. Each activity allowed students to interact with alumni to get a better perspective of what would come post-graduation. Blue and Gold Week, held prior to the highly anticipated UCLA vs. USC football game, was filled with activities for students to ignite school spirit in preparation for the match-up with their crosstown rival. After the loss last year, SAA had to work even harder to boost morale for both the students and the football team. The week was a success as the students ' energy strengthened and excitement mounted. As Maddi Akhter, a second- year political science student expressed, UCLA is a big school and I love participating in Blue and Gold Week activities because it feels as if the entire campus comes together to cheer on UCLA so we can beat SC. All week you see people wearing UCLA gear and doing the 8-clap and it all culminates in the big bonfire rally on Thursday night. Another well-known event was Dinner for 12 Strangers, in which students, faculty and fellow alumni attending a local alumnus ' s home to enjoy a home-made dinner in an effort to make UCLA a smaller, friendlier communitv. Held in the by Monica Nguyen middle of winter quarter. Dinner for 12 Strangers encouraged twelve strangers to become twelve friends by the end of dinner as they socialized and made connections with fellow Bruins. Through these interactions, students had the opportunity to feel more connected with the university. The next big event for SAA was Spring Sing, in which student competitors showcased their talent at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Spring Sing originally started off as fraternities serenading sorority sisters. In 1945, ASUCLA director William Ackerman decided to organize the first Spring Sing competition held at Royce Hall to see which singing group was the best. Though the competition was popular. Spring Sing became dormant for a decade until SAA decided to revitalize the tradition in 1978. Since then, SAA has kept the tradition of Spring Sing alive for all Bruins. Parag Sampat, a second-year undeclared student, commented, The talents and the bands were great, but the thing that really swept the show away were the skits that were put on in between. They were hilarious and very fitting! The final major SAA event of the year was Interview With a Bruin. This event allowed students to brush up on their interxiewing skills through mock trials with UCLA alunuii professionals. Students gained valuable knowledge to help them gain a ompetiti e edge in the real world. With the numerous events held on campus each year by the Student Alumni Association, students were able to feel more at home at UCLA, and truly form a Bruin family with the past, present and future. — i

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■• ' ' :■ ' ■ ' ■. ' • .-, -■-. ' ■ f r PJ WTMKKt HriBi tt JHr A TfBvB Ir l J- ' - ' Efl H 1 »i T H H I H B3iHBfc .1 — M - ' - ■ Far left: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Patrick Cowan sends sophomore wide receiver Gavin Ketchum in motion on the Bruins ' final drive of the game. Although they did not score. UCLA consumed enough time to leave only four seconds for the Trojans to mount a miracle comeback. Photographed by Michelle Wong. Left: Hundreds of ecstatic Bruin fans are turned away by the Los Angeles police as they try to rush the field after the game. Students that did manage to make it on the field were arrested and escorted out of the Rose Bowl. Photographed by Olga Nezhevenko. Bruins stun No. 2 USC Seven years is a long time without a ictory over an archrival. For seven painstakingly long years, Bruin fans had to sit back and endure the media fawning over how dominant crosstown rival USC was. For seven years, Bruin seniors had to walk off the field in their final regular season game reflecting silently as Trojan players celebrated yet another year in possession of the Victory Bell. For seven years, the UCLA athletic department watched USC produce three Heisman Trophy winners and a BCS National Championship. And on December 2, 2006 one courageous performance by the Bruins made it seem as if the past seven years had never happened. Coming off of three consecutive wins o er ranked opponents, USC was ranked No. 2 in the BCS standings and looked to be a shoo-in for the National Title game. To experts and analysts, the matchup with the Bruins was just an afterthought, with ESPN ' s Kirk Herbstreit proclaiming, They ' ll run right through UCLA. On the day of the game, the atmosphere in the sold-out Rose Bowl was electric. A sea of fans adorned in powder blue screamed their support as the Bruins tried to pull the upset against the Trojans. In the first quarter, it was apparent that the game would be a defensive struggle. Faced with the task of stopping use ' s prolific wide receiving tandem of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, defensive coordinator Dwayne Walker chose to focus his attack on Trojan quarterback John Da id Booty. Walker sent blitzes at Booty from every conceivable angle, confusing and rattling him into early and inaccurate throws. Offensi ely, redshirt sophomore quarterback Patrick Cowan surprised e eryone with his ability to break down the Trojan defense with his legs. On the Bruins ' lone scoring drive on the first half, Cowan scrambled for 55 yards, including a one-yard dive into the endzone that put the Bruins up early 7- 0. USC responded with a safety and touchdown of its own and went into halftime with a 9-7 lead. In the second half, senior All American kicker Justin Medlock added two field goals to give UCLA a 13-9 lead. With under two minutes remaining in the game, it looked as if the Bruins were going to suffer from another late game collapse, as the Trojans drove all the way down to the Bruins ' 18 yard line. But in almost fairy tale fashion, redshirt senior linebacker Eric McNeal tipped and intercepted Booty ' s pass on third and four, sealing a Bruin victory for the first time in seven years. When the clock hit zero, pandemonium ensued, as UCLA players rushed the middle of the field to celebrate. Drenched in Gatorade, head coach Karl Dorrell triumphantly pumped his fists in the air as he addressed tens of thousands of screaming supporters. Students that attempted to rush the field were met with pepper spray and police dressed in riot gear, so instead, junior tailback Chris Markey and redshirt senior wide receiver Junior Taylor made their way over to the student section. I was really disappointed we could not rush the field to cap off such an amazing win, but the look on Pete Carroll ' s face and the exhilaration of finally beating USC was worth it, commented third-year psychology student Kristy Ito. With the UCLA band blaring Sons of Westwood behind them, Markey and Taylor kicked off a celebration that would last all night long, and would forever stand tribute to one of the greatest performances in Bruin football history. - hy Benjamin Yim ii»;r gamp 23

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Above: Fourth-year communication studies student Heather Wemgart and second-year communication studies student LIndsey Olson help themselves to home- cooked food at a UCLA alumnus ' s house at SAA ' s Dinner for 12 strangers. Dinner for 12 Strangers helped Bruins get involved In the UCLA community by bringing current students, faculty and alumni together over dinner. Photographed by Michelle Wong. Left: Second-year undeclared student Shannon Degnan pauses before answering a question in a mock interview with second-year Iranian studies and psychology student Pardis Farhadian. At SAA ' s Interview With a Brum, students were given the opportunity to practice in mock interviews and receive pointers that would give them a competitive edge after graduation. Phutogidphed by miii Him ' The talents and the bands were great, but the thing that really swept [Spring Sing] away were the skits ... They were hilarious and very fitting. - Porog Sompat, second- yeor, undeclared student Above: Third-year sociology and global studies student Nabeela Virji and third-year anthropology student Bnttany Shen DeNovellls pose at an SAA Halloween party. Events such as the Halloween party were thrown every so often to reward students for their hard work for SAA. Photographed by Yong Kim. tin.