Year: 2011

LAO | pension | pensions | politics

For $200, You, Too, Can File a Pension Initiative!
Byuclafaculty June 28, 2011

There are potentially serious threats via the direct democracy process that could override the Regents’ December action on the UC pension. But there are also initiatives on pensions (and other public issues) that are filed with no prospect they will go anywhere since the authors don’t have the $1-$2 million needed to hire signature-gathering firms. Here is an excerpt from a recent example that is now pending at the Attorney General: …The members of the retirement board of a public pension or retirement system shall on and after January 1, 2016, invest and maintain at least 85 percent of the…

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miscellaneous

A Diversion from the Obvious: Doing What They Do Best?
Byuclafaculty June 28, 2011

Let’s give the state and UC budgets a rest for a moment. Many faculty during the summer travel to conferences or just vacations. Yours truly has been traveling of late on American Airlines and noted that boarding the plane has become chaotic. There seems to be no pattern in use. Many airlines board from the rear on the idea that aisles closer to the front won’t be blocked by passengers trying to stow luggage or get settled. If you randomize the entry, you get blocked aisles. But the airline has decided that random will be the new system. Now it…

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governor | State Budget | UC budget crisis

State Budget Deal Retains Additional Cut to UC and May Trigger More Cuts
Byuclafaculty June 28, 2011

An earlier post today included an update reporting that the legislative Democrats have reached a deal with Gov. Brown on the state budget that can be passed by majority vote (without Republican votes) because no new taxes or extensions are involved. The deal is leaking out but contains the additional $150 million in cuts to higher ed that was in the budget Brown vetoed. It also has a trigger feature so that if assumed revenue does not appear, there will be midyear cuts including more to UC. Here is a summary: Democratic aides provided details this afternoon on the handshake…

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online education | UC | UCLA

Better Learning Through Chemistry?
Byuclafaculty June 27, 2011

Yours truly is not sure this is exactly what those pushing for more online education at UC envisioned. The Daily Bruin today carries a story about Chemistry 14D. Students receive credits for putting together videos that communicate principles of the course. Full story at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/06/extra_credit_music_videos_make_chemistry_14d_more_basic An example is below. Click on cc (closed captions) to see the words.

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governor | pension | pensions | politics | State Budget

State Budget: Running the Clock
Byuclafaculty June 27, 2011

If you are wondering what is happening to the state budget, it appears that the closest analogy is the point in the film High Noon in which the train carrying the Bad Guy arrives at noon. After he arrives, there will be a confrontation/shoot-out with the Good Guy. In the case of the state budget, however, it is midnight – not noon – that is critical: midnight on June 30. At that point, the fiscal year 2010-11 ends and there is no budget to replace it. Also, the taxes that the governor wants to extend expire so that any ballot…

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: Moving Bonds
Byuclafaculty June 26, 2011

From the UCLA History Project comes this tale of an LA City bond measure approved by voters in 1925 that enabled UCLA to move from its Vermont Avenue campus to Westwood. New media, record voter turnout and engaged young voters – these were the stories that riveted citizens on May 5, 1925. The biggest issue for Bruins was Proposition 2, a city bond measure that would raise about 70% of the funds needed to purchase a 200-acre parcel for the Southern Branch of the University of California. Students and young alumni joined together to conduct a colorful and noisy campaign….

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miscellaneous | UCLA

UCLA History: Building Royce Hall
Byuclafaculty June 25, 2011

Three pictures illustrate the construction of Royce Hall in the late 1920s, as the Westwood campus of UCLA was being built. We see a model of Royce being examined (bottom), the foundation for the building being laid (right), and (top) a shot inside Royce as it is being completed.

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online education | UCLA

UCLA Extension and Steve Poizner (Remember Him?) Offer Online Ed
Byuclafaculty June 24, 2011

For those whose memory is a bit shaky, Poizner was the state insurance commissioner who lost to Meg Whitman in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2010. UCLA Extension to offer online courses aimed at boomers (excerpt) Walter Hamilton, LA Times, June 23, 2011 UCLA Extension… is teaming with Encore Career Institute Inc. in Los Gatos, Calif., to teach baby boomers how to reinvent themselves in today’s rapidly evolving job market… The Silicon Valley start-up will offer online coursework based on UCLA Extension classes. It will also give career assessment and job-placement assistance designed for baby boomers, who range in age…

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miscellaneous | UC-San Diego

UC-San Diego First-Generation Students Get Help From Retired Professors
Byuclafaculty June 24, 2011

Is this example from UC-San Diego a suggestion of something UCLA should consider doing? At UC-San Diego, First-Generation Students Get Help From Retired Professors: Experienced scholars guide the uninitiated in an unusual mentoring program Molly Redden, Chronicle of Higher Education, 6/19/11 (Excerpt) When Lila Gitesatani arrived on the University of California’s San Diego campus as a freshman, she had a multitude of questions: How should she choose a major, go about selecting courses, or even explore activities on campus? But Ms. Gitesatani was limited in where she could turn for advice. As a first-generation college student, she says, her parents…

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pension | pensions | UC Regents | uc retirement

Anyone know what Regent Crane said? Inquiring Minds Want to Know
Byuclafaculty June 23, 2011

Anyone know what Regent Crane said about pensions at this fair and balanced seminar at the Hoover Institution? (Scroll down) Hint: It might be good to find out. From the Hoover Institution website: http://www.hoover.org/news/83027 June 20, 2011 State and Municipal Fiscal Default Workshop On June 15–16, 2011, scholars and practitioners gathered for the State and Municipal Fiscal Default Workshop at the Hoover Institution. Experts from the fields of public policy, economics, finance, law, and state and local politics consulted about the nature of the problem, the current legal structures, and the possibility of legislative or other reform to avert the…

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