Year: 2011

  • Font of Wisdom

    Byuclafaculty

    Use PowerPoint in class? Research suggests using hard-to-read fonts will increase student learning. (Of course, your teacher ratings will suffer when students complain.) See below: …New research finds that people retain significantly more material – whether science, history or language – when they study it in a font that is not only unfamiliar but also hard to read… In a recent study published in the journal Cognition, psychologists at Princeton and Indiana University had 28 men and women read about three species of aliens, each of which had seven characteristics, like “has blue eyes,” and “eats flower petals and pollen.”…

  • U of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Closes Early in Aftermath of Tornado

    Byuclafaculty

    From the U of Alabama website:Classes and Normal Operations Suspended; Update on Final Exams and Commencement UPDATED Thursday, April 28, 4:45 p.m. – Normal operations are suspended as recovery efforts continue. The University will not conduct final exams next week as scheduled. Students will have the option of accepting their existing grades as of April 27, 2011, or they can take a final exam at a later date. For those students who request to take a final exam, faculty will have the option of scheduling the final exam on site when normal operations resume or via distance education means. Commencement…

  • The Regents Reign from Spain (on May 5 – Cinco de Mayo)

    Byuclafaculty

    The Regents seem to have an outpost in Spain, at least according to the agenda for the May 5 meeting of the Committee on Compliance and Audit. That seems to be the most exciting element in the meeting, although apparently there is also to be an outpost in Tennessee. See below: NOTICE OF MEETING:The Regents of the University of California, COMMITTEE ON COMPLIANCE AND AUDITDate: May 5, 2011Time: 11:20 a.m.Locations: 1111 Franklin Street, Room 11326, Oakland;1130 K Street, Suite 340, Sacramento;Henley Board Room, 3104 Mosher Alumni House, Santa Barbara Campus;6840 Carothers Parkway, Franklin, Tennessee; Calle San Magin 1, Palma de…

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    Budget Cuts are Good Things at UC-Davis

    Byuclafaculty

    That’s what UC-Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi says: UCD chancellor says budget cuts prompt positive changes “…UC Davis is facing a $107 million shortfall next year. While the budget pressure is difficult, Katehi said, it also creates opportunities for UC Davis to change in ways that will be beneficial, prompting professors to apply for more grants and the campus to increase the number of students it admits from outside California. “I believe at the end of all of this, the university will be stronger after all of these changes,” she said. Katehi said she wants the campus to bring in more…

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    Where’s the Money?

    Byuclafaculty

    The legislature is in the habit of recommending what UC should be doing, but not offering to pay for it. Below is a recent example which yours truly became aware of from an article in the “educated guess” blog today (excerpt): (Darrell) Steinberg, the Senate president pro tem, is the author of SB 611, which would write into law the mission of a new UC institute charged with overseeing the design of career tech courses satisfying the entrance requirements to UC and the California State University system. It’s in a package of three Steinberg bills that would significantly reshape K-12…

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    UCLA Data Source

    Byuclafaculty

    The chart above (data for Fall 2009) is one of many charts and tables for UCLA available from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Below is an example of a table: Full-time beginning undergraduate students at UCLA who received Title IV aid by income: 2008-09 Income Average net price* $0 – $30,000 $7,495 $30,001 – $48,000 $8,331 $48,001 – $75,000 $13,190 $75,001 – $110,000 $19,706 $110,001 and more $22,971 All incomes $12,752 *Net price includes living costs, whether on or off campus, including living with family for those off campus. Obviously, the data above appeared with a lag. But you…

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    PPIC April Poll Suggests Uncertain Outlook for Tax Propositions

    Byuclafaculty

    Here are two charts from the latest PPIC poll. The poll dealt mainly with issues of K-12 education and finance. However, Californians have long had a warm spot for K-12 and so framing budgetary issues as linked to K-12 (which they are, of course) probably makes voters more likely to support taxes than otherwise. There remains majority support for calling a special election as proposed by the governor. However, such an election can no longer be called before the end of the fiscal year (before June 30). So that means what were to be billed as tax extensions become tax…

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    Analysis of State & Local Pensions Suggests Uncertainty About Status of Current Employees

    Byuclafaculty

    The Congressional Research Service recently issued a report on state and local public pensions. Among the issues addressed is what, if any, changes can be made for current employees. (The report states that benefits of already-retired employees have been seen as not subject to cutbacks but indicates that this concept is under challenge in some states.) There is no specific analysis of California although various states are referenced in the text. The report indicates that while in the private sector it is clear that already-accrued benefits cannot be taken away, employers can terminate plans going forward or reduce future accrual…