Year: 2012

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    How the Hotel Sausage Got Made

    Byuclafaculty

    CaliforniaWatchhas a story on the UCLA hotel project that recently passed the Regents.  It notes problems that this blog has pointed out: “(Chancellor) Block noted in his presentation that the hotel and conference center would serve not only academic conference attendees, but also donors, parents and alumni coming to UCLA for activities ‘in furtherance of UCLA’s educational mission.’ But critics have noted that the Internal Revenue Service has treated alumni, for example, as members of the general public, suggesting that the university could be exposed to the unrelated business income tax. According to ‘The Tax Law of Colleges and Universities’…

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    Empowered to the People: Poizner-UCLA Extension Online Venture Launching

    Byuclafaculty

    This blog has written in the past about online education and, in particular, a venture called “Empowered” involving UCLA Extension and Steve Poizner which seems about the launch.  Poizner, some will recall, was a GOP candidate for governor in 2010, losing the nomination to Meg Whitman in the primary (who then lost to Jerry Brown).  The program offers certificates in various management and other fields with a sticker price of $12,800, although students in the first class get a reduced price of $9,800.   An iPad is thrown in “free,” however.   The launch comes with a slick video which –…

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    Beyond the Headlines

    Byuclafaculty

    The headline on a story in today’s Sacramento Beereads: “2 UC Davis neurosurgeons accused of experimental surgery are banned from human research” But, as is often the case, the story that follows is more complicated than the headline suggests.  It raises issues of bioethics related to the specific procedures described and also questions about management control in medical facilities.  I mention the latter because some readers will recall the body parts scandal at UCLA and the scrambled eggs/fertility clinic scandal at UC-Irvine. We have a comment option on this blog which is rarely used but if medical professionals in particula…

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    One Suspects We Will Be Hearing More About This Issue

    Byuclafaculty

    Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/20/12 UCLA Faculty Leader Found to Have Wronged Professor to Appease Jewish Group By Peter Schmidt A faculty panel at the University of California at Los Angeles has admonished the chairman of the university’s Academic Senate for violating the rights of an associate professor who had been accused by an outside advocacy group of misusing his position to call for a boycott of Israel.  In a letter issued this month, the UCLA Academic Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom held that the Senate’s chairman, Andrew F. Leuchter, was wrong to have told the advocacy group and the…

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    Listen to Audio of Special Regents Meeting of June 19, 2012

    Byuclafaculty

    Although we have posted audio from the July Regents meeting, there was a special meeting earlier called for June 19.  Below is the agenda and audio for that meeting. Tuesday, June 19: Special Meeting of Regents 12:30 pm Committee on Compensation (Regents Only Session) 12:45 pm Committee on Compensation (Open Session – includes public comment session) 1:05 pm Board (open session) The three sessions above were to approve appointment of Amy Dorr – Dean of UCLA’s GSEIS – as UC Provost and EVC-Academic Affairs, $350,000 plus moving and related expenses. 1:30 pm Committee on Investments: Review of investment returns and…

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    Too Much?

    Byuclafaculty

    The LA Times today features a UCLA study finding that folks in LA suffer from having too much stuff.  They just can’t help themselves and overdo it, adding more than they need.  Excerpt: About 10 years ago, Rhonda Voo’s house was a mess. Shelves packed with Beanie Babies, Barbies and various other toys covered the walls in her cramped three-bedroom, one bathroom house. With three children between the ages of 5 and 11, Voo discovered that even finding a pair of shoes became a daily challenge.  “It’s like all the stuff you own kind of weighs you down,” said Voo,…

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    Lt. Gov. Newsom Sends Letter to Chancellor Block on Japanese Garden Sale

    Byuclafaculty

    Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Chancellor Block dated July 3 concerning the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  Newsom is an ex officio Regent.  The letter asks that public access to the Garden be preserved and that UCLA explore alternatives to the planned sale. As a prior post noted, at their recent meeting, the Regents reviews litigation on this matter.  The Newsom letter is dated before the meeting took place although it is possible that some advance material was circulated to Regents. You can read the letter below: Open publication – Free publishing – More gavin newsom You never…

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    Carmageddon II Coming Sept. 28

    Byuclafaculty

    LA Supervisor Yaroslavsky provides an advance warning: Carmageddon, last summer’s blockbuster traffic success story, is back with a fall sequel. And to keep Part II from turning into the disaster predicted—and averted—the first time around, officials say it will be more important than ever to go “car-light” or “car-free” during the last weekend in September. Starting around 7 p.m. on Friday, September 28, ramps to the 405 Freeway will begin closing in advance of a weekend-long shutdown of the entire freeway through the Sepulveda Pass. The full, 10-mile stretch of the 405 running from the 10 Freeway to the 101…

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    No Meds Down by the Riverside Says LA Times

    Byuclafaculty

    An earlier post noted efforts by UC-Riverside and UC-Merced to create med schools.  Today the LA Times editorializes against the former. A UC Riverside medical school? Not now: Fiscal uncertainty makes this the wrong time to embark on the ambitious new project. (excerpt) It certainly would be good for UC Riverside if it had a full medical school. Professional schools — especially medical and law schools — add luster to a college’s reputation and can attract research money and elite professors. Whether it would be good for the state, or for the University of California as a whole, is another…

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    Regents Endorse Governor’s Tax Initiative

    Byuclafaculty

    Although we posted an audio and some description of the July 18 morning session of the Regents in which they endorsed Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative, you might want to read about it rather than listen.  The Regents acted after the strong urging of President Yudof.  Here is an excerpt from Larry Gordon’s story in the LA Times with a link: …the governing board of the 10-campus system formally endorsed the governor’s tax measure. “It’s a simple question: Will UC be better off if it passes than if it doesn’t? That’s not just an answer of ‘yes,’ that’s an…