Month: April 2012

  • Before laughing, maybe we should poll our students on this matter

    Byuclafaculty

    (Note: The film is currently playing in Westwood in a 3D version.) ‘Just found out Titanic really happened!’ The tweeters who thought world’s most famous shipwreck was just a film By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 21:03 EST, 14 April 2012 | UPDATED: 05:29 EST, 15 April 2012 As the world commemorates the centenary of the Titanic’s sinking, thousands of people have taken to the internet to discuss the historic anniversary.  But the event has evidently proven more educational for some than others.  A number of tweeters have used the micro-blogging site to confess that they were unaware that the Titanic was a real ship. The ill-informed…

  • Post Pepper

    Byuclafaculty

    In the aftermath of the official report on the pepper-spray incident at UC-Davis, the chancellor there issued a response promising a variety of reforms, etc.  Below is her statement:Chancellor: ‘We are moving swiftly’ 4.13.12 Dear UC Davis Community: The Reynoso task force report illuminated clearly and sharply the need for major reform of campus police operations and better coordination, collaboration and communication within the UC Davis administration and with the broader university community. We are moving swiftly to address these issues and any others that need attention. In fact, we began addressing several areas of need prior to the release…

  • How Big?

    Byuclafaculty

    We continue to report on the UCLA hotel/conference center project which the Regents found questionable in their March meeting and refused to endorse.  Earlier, we noted threehotel projects being planned for Santa Monica.  It is useful to look at a rendering of one of them which has 138 rooms and would be at 5th Street and Colorado.   It’s pretty massive and useful to look at.  Now consider that the 250-room proposed UCLA hotel would have over 80% more rooms and you get a sense of the scale of the UCLA project.  The Santa Monica project shown above is described as follows:…

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    Daily State Taxes

    Byuclafaculty

    “Pay your taxes with a smile unless, of course, they insist on cash.”* State tax aficionados (yes, there are some – particularly in the legislature and the governor’s Dept. of Finance) tend to watch the daily inflows of income tax in April which is the big tax month.  Right now, total income tax receipts for the current fiscal year are almost exactly where they were at this time last year.   Of course, people who owe taxes tend to mail in their returns at the deadline (which is April 17 this year because the 15th is Sunday and there is a…

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    Too Much Old Radio?

    Byuclafaculty

    The felony charge against a UCLA professor in connection with a fatal lab fire continues.  This blog, in an earlier post, noted another felony case charged against a UCLA political science professor by the Los Angeles District Attorney and questioned whether the criminalization of these matters is appropriate.  The earlier post is at: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/03/da-overreaching.html From today’s Daily Bruin: The formal reading of felony charges in relation to the 2009 death of a UCLA staff research assistant has been postponed for a third time.  UCLA chemistry Professor Patrick Harran, the UC Board of Regents and the Los Angeles County District Attorney were…

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    Pepper Report Released

    Byuclafaculty

    The long-awaited UC-Davis pepper spray report has now been released.  A link below will allow you to open the report (which also contains underlying Kroll report on the incident).  Some police officer names have been blanked out although the “pepper spray cop” is named. Basically, the report suggests an amateur lack of control and decision making of the campus police involving the police chief and chancellor (and others in the chancellor’s office). President Yudof released the statement below:Yudof statement on the release of UC Davis pepper-spray report Date: 2012-04-11 I want to thank Justice Reynoso and members of the Task…

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    Audios of Regents Meetings of March 27-29, 2012

    Byuclafaculty

    Meeting of the Regents of the University of California: March 27-29, 2012 Prior posts have included excerpts from the Regents meetings dealing with the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center and the sale by UCLA of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  Below you will find complete recordings of the three days of the Regent meeting with the exception of the third day for which a defective audio file was received. Tuesday March 27, 2012: Day 1 3:00 pm Committee on Health Services (includes public comment) Wednesday, March 28, 2012: Day 2 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment) Includes comments on…

  • Sorry About That

    Byuclafaculty

    …In an email about financial aid awards, UCLA told 894 high school seniors last weekend that they were admitted to the highly competitive campus. Those students actually remain on the waiting list for the Westwood school. UCLA is apologizing for the error. Officials, however, are not yet moving anyone into the admitted category. “We realize this is a particularly anxious and stressful time for students and their families as they try to make decisions about college admissions. We sincerely apologize for this mistake that may have led some of them to think they were admitted when they remain on the waiting…

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    Listen to Audio of Regents Meeting on UCLA Hotel/Conference Center

    Byuclafaculty

    The discussion of the proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center occurred in two segments of the March 28, 2012 UC Regents meeting.  During the morning public comment period, there was testimony on the hotel by outside interest groups.  In the afternoon at the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, there was a full hearing on the proposal.  As readers of this blog will know, the result was an embarrassment for UCLA.  Committee members asked questions and were dissatisfied with the responses received.  They were unwilling to endorse the proposal and would have sent it without endorsement to the full Board of Regents the…

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    Listen to Audio of Testimony at UC Regents on Proposed Sale of UCLA Japanese Garden

    Byuclafaculty

    Readers of this blog will known that UCLA has begun the process to sell the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden located near campus in Bel Air.  At the UC Regents meeting of March 27-29, 2012, there was testimony during the public comment periods of March 28 and March 29. Below is a link to audio of that testimony.