Author: admin

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    UCLA History and Follow Up: Selection and Adverse Selection

    Byadmin

    The caption of this 1951 photo from the LA Public Library collection reads “Edward A. Dickson, chairman of the University of California Regents, signs contracts for UCLA’s $20,000,000 Medical Center, while architect Carl C. McElvy looks on.”  The selection of the design for the original UCLA med center suggests a follow-up observation on our prior post about Anthem/Blue Cross dropping UCLA (and Cedars-Sinai) from its plan for LA City workers.  Not surprisingly, there were some angry letters about that decision in the LA Times today.  See http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-0923-sunday-cedars-ucla-anthem-20120923-4,0,5880599.story.  Our prior post is athttp://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/09/there-will-be-repercussions.htmlOne of the letters to the editor asks why Anthem/Blue Cross did…

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    More Terrible Night Traffic

    Byadmin

    The Sunset bridge area will be closed tonight 10 PM until 6 AM tomorrow.  The folks in charge of the project actually did the same thing last night.  And I can tell you from personal experience last night that they thought it was OK to direct lots of traffic to a dead end and then let drivers figure out how to turn around.  So stay away.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYdr-MslXkw?feature=player_detailpage]

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    UCLA Is Well Endowed But Seems to Have Problems of Performance

    Byadmin

    The Regents’ Investment Committee is meeting on September 25 and one of the items on the agenda is a look at what the various campus foundations are doing with their endowment investments.  Above is a chart showing the asset mix of the different campuses as of March.  [Click on the chart to enlarge and make clearer.]  UCLA seems to be lower than the typical for the campuses in what might be viewed as conventional investments, i.e., equities and fixed income (and cash).  It seems higher in such categories such as real estate, private equity, commodities, and absolute return (which a…

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    Note: Not everyone loves us

    Byadmin

    The conservative/libertarian City Journal complains about a UC-San Diego diversity executive appointment in its latest issue (and about the Regents’ endorsement of Prop 30). Excerpts: The University of California, San Diego has done it again. Last year, it announced the creation of a new diversity sinecure: a vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Campus leaders established this post even as state budget cuts resulted in the loss of star scientists to competing universities, as humanities classes and degree programs were eliminated to save money, and as tuition continued its nearly 75 percent, five-year rise. The new vice chancellorship was wildly…

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    There will be repercussions

    Byadmin

    If you woke up to see the front-page healthcare headline in the LA Times, you know there will be more about this story in the future.  The article refers specifically to LA City employees not being covered for care at UCLA.  However, the report is indicative of the ongoing turmoil in the U.S. healthcare system.  Although it has been a commonplace to say that uncompensated or under-compensated healthcare costs are passed along to those who do pay, in fact that kind of cost shifting is becoming more difficult to do. We don’t have a single-payer system but the insurance coverage…

  • More Online Course Takers

    Byadmin

    An earlier post on this blog featured a story about a web service that would take online courses for students.  Inside Higher Ed seems to have picked up the story and noted that other services are jumping into the online market.  Some of these sites, such as the one above, appear to have branched out from their earlier term paper writing services.  The story is at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/21/sites-offering-take-courses-fee-pose-risk-online-ed Now we know much about these services:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF6JMotbHYM?feature=player_detailpage]

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    Another Poll Shows Prop 30 Marginally Ahead

    Byadmin

    Another poll – the Field Poll – has appeared which shows the governor’s tax initiative (Prop 30) marginally ahead and the rival Munger initiative failing (Prop 38).  Earlier today, we posted similar results from the PPIC poll. The poll also shows that Prop 39, which closes a corporate tax loophole, is ahead in a plurality sense but doesn’t have a majority. Ultimately, folks must vote yes or no on initiatives but not having a majority at this stage is not a good sign. The poll is at:http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2425.pdf A Sacramento Bee article on the poll results is at:http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/09/poll-support-for-prop-30-highest-among-wealthy-educated.html

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    The Sun Shall Rise Soon on the Sunset Bridge

    Byadmin

    From Zev Yaroslavsky:  A wider, modernized Sunset Bridge is set to reopen for business on Monday, September 24, marking a major milestone in the progress of the 405 Project to bring a northbound carpool lane and other improvements to one of the nation’s most heavily-traveled freeways.  The rebuilt bridge will be 120 feet across—30 feet wider than its 1950s-era predecessor. In addition to two travel lanes in each direction, it also has new, dedicated turn lanes for motorists to access the freeway without affecting the flow of east-west traffic. Sidewalks and shoulders are wider, too, and the bridge has been…

  • Another ongoing saga

    Byadmin

    Our prior post today discussed the ongoing saga of the not-quite med school at UC-Riverside.  Another ongoing saga at UC is the UC-Davis pepper spray story.  Today comes word in the Sacramento Bee that there will be no prosecution by the local DA of the police officers involved: …In viewing the incident “through the totality of the circumstances, there is insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force involved in the November 18, 2011, pepper spraying was unlawful and therefore warrants the filing of criminal charges,” officials said in a statement announcing the report’s…