Author: admin

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    Who Needs Light, Anyway? Or Gravitas?

    Byadmin

    inShare After 144 years with the same old Victorian seal, the University of California has decided to go mod. The university’s original logo — with its open book, 1868 date stamp and “Let there be light” script — will still be in circulation, appearing on president’s letters and official university documents. But marketing materials and websites will feature a radically simple and more contemporary symbol: a little “C” nesting inside a shield-shaped “U.” “They wanted something that would reflect the innovation, the character of California — just more modern, user-friendly,” said Dianne Klein of UC’s Office of the President. “That’s…

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    Whoops

    Byadmin

    No, things are not as bad as the picture suggests. But the state controller reports that through November, receipts are about $800 million below the original budget estimates (which include Prop 30).  About half of the missing revenue is attributable to corporate profits tax net receipts.  The controller also notes that Facebook’s IPO produced less for the state than expected.  And expenditures are up more than $2 billion above estimates.  The state isn’t running out of cash.  And there are 7 months to go in this fiscal year.  But note that these numbers are coming in at a time when…

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    No Sander?

    Byadmin

    From the Daily Bruin on Thursday: A forum on UCLA’s holistic admissions policies planned for Wednesday has been postponed because of scheduling problems and legal concerns about the form of the discussion, according to organizers. The forum, organized by the Undergraduate Students Association Council Academic Affairs Commission, was intended to discuss a report by UCLA law professor Richard Sander that claims the undergraduate admissions process is illegally taking race into account… UCLA admissions officials declined their invitations after receiving legal advice against participating in a public forum with Sander, according to an email from Janina Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs.  Youlonda Copeland-Morgan, associate…

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    Please Sir, Can I Have My Med School?

    Byadmin

    From the Riverside Press-Enterprise: Only hours into the 2013-2014 session, a pair of new lawmakers from Riverside introduced a pair of virtually identical measures to annually appropriate $15 million to UC Riverside’s School of Medicine.  The bills are the first of their kind so early in a legislative year. Their authors, state Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, and Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, pledged to secure money for the medical school during their campaigns this year. …University officials have tried since 2008 to secure ongoing state money for the school amid massive budget shortfalls. In 2011, officials postponed the school’s first freshman…

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    PPIC Poll Covers Higher Ed Concerns

    Byadmin

    The latest opinion poll from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) covers a variety of issues including higher education.  It suggests parents are worried about whether their kids will get into a public higher ed institution and what it will cost if they do.  As the table below shows, half want their kids to go to grad school. [Click on the table to enlarge and get a clearer image.] You can find the poll at: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_1212MBS.pdf

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    More on UCLA Study’s Request for a Mayoral Pledge

    Byadmin

    This post is a follow up on yesterday’s blog piece on a UCLA study which asks LA City mayoral candidates to sign a pledge to implement various elements in the study, including creation of a new city agency.  We noted the idea of a UCLA study – posted on the university’s “newsroom” website – which asks political candidates for mayor to sign a pledge raises some issues.  Normally, to the extent that the university has endorsed political positions, there has been a direct university interest in those positions.  For example, the Regents endorsed the governor’s Prop 30 in the last…

  • Reminder of What Not to Do

    Byadmin

    When you get emails with messages such as this one:Your mailbox has exceeded the limit of 20 GB, which is set by your manager You are currently 20.9GB, you will not be able to create new e-mail to send or receive again until you re-validate your mailbox.To validate your mailbox, you can click University of California, Los Angeles/update Thank you, University of California, Los Angeles system administrator  Don’t click.  Note the odd grammar and sentences that don’t end in periods.  And, if you look closely, the message often does not come from a UCLA email address.  The one above purports…

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    Conference Held at UCLA

    Byadmin

    The headline may seem odd.  Conferences are held on campus all the time.  Maybe the headline should instead be “Quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast Conference held at UCLA without construction of a new campus hotel.”  Despite the notion that without building a hotel-conference center, UCLA won’t be able to disseminate its research, such dissemination happens on campus regularly as the photo shows. As for the Forecast, here is a summary: In its fourth and final quarterly report of 2012, the UCLA Anderson Forecast’s outlook for the United States says that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at less than a 2%…

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    Mayoral campaign pledges?

    Byadmin

    A new report by various UCLA environmental research centers presents a variety of “green” options for the City of LA including energy, transit, etc.  Nothing unusual about that.  What is unusual is the connection of the report to the upcoming 2013 city mayoral campaign. Specifically, the report (on page 4) suggests that all mayoral candidates be asked whether they will pledge to undertake some specific actions: A CALL TO ACTION VISION2021 LA seeks answers to the following questions from each of Los Angeles’ 2013 mayoral and city council candidates. *Do you share the VISION2021 LA goals for our City?   *Will…