Year: 2011

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    Westwood FlyAway Bus to Continue for 6 Months With University Subsidy

    Byuclafaculty

    Westwood FlyAway bus to LAX extended for 6 months Art Marroquin, 7/11/11, Daily Breeze The Westwood FlyAway bus will continue to shuttle passengers to Los Angeles International Airport for at least six more months, but one-way fares will be doubled to $10 and hours could be reduced to keep the route alive, officials said Monday. The FlyAway system’s Westwood route was on the chopping block earlier this year, but the service was granted a reprieve after airport and UCLA officials hammered out a series of revamped guidelines. Despite the changes, the route will continue to operate at a $74,000 annual…

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    Squeeze in the Middle

    Byuclafaculty

    The graphic above appears in today’s Sacramento Bee along with an article indicating a tuition squeeze on the middle class at UC and CSU. The Regents’ July meeting begins today. They are expected to approve an additional tuition increase in response to the recently-passed state budget. The article related to the graphic is at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/12/3763136/middle-class-feels-tuition-squeeze.html To aid the Regents, here is a little helper:

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    Grim Facts Support Defined Benefits

    Byuclafaculty

    Inside Higher Ed today points to the issue of encouraging retirement of senior faculty and notes a report by the American Council on Education (ACE) about legal issues surrounding age discrimination, etc. Both items discuss the history of federal age discrimination law including the ending of mandatory retirement ages for faculty. Although the ACE report mentions that there are two types of pension plans – defined benefit and defined contribution – it doesn’t emphasize the obvious point. There is no particular retirement incentive under defined contribution plans, which are basically tax-favored savings accounts. You can continue to accumulate contributions to…

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    UC to Provide a Helping Hand to the State

    Byuclafaculty

    California looks to UC, CSU for lending hand 7/11/11, Kevin Yamamura, Capitol Alert The state just slashed $650 million each from the California State University and University of California, but it’s now looking to the two systems to loan the state some cash. A new bill moving through the Legislature with little public notice, Senate Bill 79, would establish a new investment fund for UC, CSU, California Community Colleges and the Judicial Council. Under the proposal, each system could contribute no less than $500 million and earn a return from the state, apparently more than they get elsewhere but less…

  • Open Secret Revealed in Cash Report

    Byuclafaculty

    The state controller has released his report on cash flows into and out of the California general fund for 2010-11, the fiscal year that ended June 30. And here is something that has been a kind of open secret all along, but disguised by the fluid (polite word) terminology used to describe state budgetary matters. Suppose we define a surplus as a situation in which more flows into the general fund than flows out. Suppose we define a deficit as the opposite. And suppose we say a balanced budget as one in which inflows and outflows match. Now we all…

  • Why Johnny Can’t Write

    Byuclafaculty

    More on why Johnny – in your class – (often) can’t write: From the San Francisco Chronicle technology advice column today: Q: I am a play write. I write comedies and I want to sell them, a scene at a time, on social networks. I have yet to create a website. What do you recommend? A: First, learn how to spell. The name of your profession is playwright, not play write… Full article at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/10/BUOC1K6OTN.DTL

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    405 Freeway Closure Coming at the End of This Week

    Byuclafaculty

    Readers of this blog – or of newspapers – or of just about anything will know that the 405 freeway will be closed this coming weekend for construction, something billed as Carmageddon. However, for those who feel they must have some kind of presence on campus, even if vicarious, it might be noted that there are various webcams running 24/7 at UCLA, three of which were working as of today: Royce Hall: http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/bruincam/default.htm Construction in DeNeve area: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/videos/DeNeve-1-Live.htm Construction in Sproul area: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/videos/Sproul-West-1-Live.htm Despite the webcam options, not everyone is happy about the closure:

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    Westwood hotel project will go condo if UCLA builds hotel/conference center

    Byuclafaculty

    The LA Business Journal reports that the developer of the hotel proposed for the old Hollywood video store site on Wilshire & Gayley will do the building as condos-only if UCLA goes ahead with the plan to replace the Faculty Center with a large hotel/conference center. See below. Scroll down to boldface type. No Vacancy? Jacquelyn Ryan Los Angeles Business Journal July 4th, 2011 It seems the biggest battles these days in Westwood aren’t on the basketball court but over luxury suites – and not the ones in arenas. Just months after a controversial plan to build an upscale hotel…

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    Gone

    Byuclafaculty

    Some California university degrees disappear amid budget cuts (excerpts): Laurel Rosenhall, July 9, 2011, Sacramento Bee …UC Davis students can no longer get bachelor’s degrees in applied science, avian science or nature and culture. UC Santa Cruz has eliminated minors in computer technology, journalism and communication and rhetoric. As California’s public universities look for efficiencies in the face of ongoing budget cuts, some long-standing fields of study are falling by the wayside… “Clearly some of it is cyclical, but the budget cuts are accelerating the process and forcing the campuses to make some tough decisions,” said Todd Greenspan, director of…