BIG-MONEY SUPPORT UCLA MEDICAL CENTER WILL BE NAMED AFTER RONALD REAGAN MAJOR GIFTS FOR LIBRARY, HOSPITAL.Byline: Joseph Giordono Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs Foundation announced Wednesday a $30 million gift from a consortium of California civic and cultural leaders to fund its new Presidential Learning Center. The gift, expected to be secured over the next two years, is a part of the group's larger $180 million donation to the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , to name the school's new medical center after the former president. ``What we are most excited about is that this money will go to our new initiative, which is to teach school kids from kindergarten through 12th grade about the American presidency,'' said Mark Burson, executive director of the Reagan Foundation. ``We are very pleased that an institution like UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX would have such great confidence in us to fund this program.'' The group raising the money is led by Univision television network executive Jerry Perenchio, a UCLA alum, who has already secured $80 million. The Reagan Library Foundation is a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that operates the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, the Center for Public Affairs and the Presidential Learning Center in Simi Valley. The library's new Presidential Learning Center, which recently opened, offers a place where school groups can visit to learn more about the history of the presidency and the men who have held the office, he said. The library houses more than 55 million pages of government documents and personal papers from Reagan, the now 89-year-old former president and California governor, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. . Reagan no longer makes public appearances and was represented at a UCLA press conference by his wife, Nancy. ``I hope you all know how grateful we both are to everyone for making this wonderful project possible,'' she said. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , a $1.3 billion hospital and research complex, is under construction and is slated to open in 2004. It will replace the old medical center, which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- ran in Valley edition only) This model of the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was unveiled Wednesday. (2 -- Ran in Valley and Conejo editions only) Dr. Gerald Levey, flanked by, from left, Chancellor Albert Carnesdale, Fred Ryan, Nancy Reagan and Jerold Perenchio, speaks at a news conference to announce a $30 million gift to fund the Reagan Library's new Presidential Learning Center. (3 -- color in Simi SIMI Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative SIMI Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet SIMI Students Islamic Movement in India SIMI Society of Irish Motor Industry SIMI Smallholder Irrigation Markets Initiative edition only) Former first lady Nancy Reagan said she and her husband are delighted that the gift will teach children about the presidency. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer |
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