Author: admin

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    Golden Silence?

    Byadmin

    Our colleagues at CSU and the community colleges feel the need to be outspoken about the impact of state budget cuts and possible upcoming “trigger” cuts to higher ed. Somehow, UC is not being quoted in the various news articles about this recent trend in public complaints. Is UC’s silence golden? Contrary to the headline on yesterday’s post on this blog, maybe more needs to be said. Example 1: Outgoing SF State President Slams Governor: Brown “doesn’t seem to appreciate high-quality education in California” Story at http://www.baycitizen.org/education/story/outgoing-sf-state-president-slams/ Example 2: California is witnessing a slow and steady decline of its prized…

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    Does More Need to Be Said?

    Byadmin

    The headline from this morning’s LA Times probably says enough. But the whole story is at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-college-pay-20110822,0,2034981.story Update: A radio program on the topic of UC tuition > state contribution can be found at http://media.scpr.org/audio/upload/2011/08/23/20110823_airtalk_UC.mp3

  • Are We Going Peerless?

    Byadmin

    Glenn Ellison of MIT surveyed trends in publication of top economics departments and finds evidence of less use of top peer-reviewed journals by faculty in those departments. He examines various possible reasons for this development and concludes that the Internet is providing an alternative method for disseminating research. Extrapolation of this finding might suggest that traditional journals will become obsolete, or at least less important. The article does not explore trends in other fields. But it may be relevant to other disciplines as well. You can find the article at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00261.x/pdf The link above works for me. However, I may…

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    Pension Tax?

    Byadmin

    An initiative was submitted in July to the Attorney General proposing to tax public pensions above $100,000. It applies only to CalPERS and CalSTRS and not UC. As noted in this blog, anyone can submit and initiative (anyone with $200). But as a practical matter, you need $1-$2 million to pay signature gathering firms if you want to get it on the ballot. And, if the measure is controversial, you may need tens of millions for TV ads, etc., thereafter for a campaign. The submitter of this particular initiative is Lanny Ebenstein whose CV is at http://www.sbcta.org/lannyebenstein.html It seems unlikely…

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    UC opts out of controller’s public pay database (and shouldn’t)

    Byadmin

    Below is a news article and a comment by yours truly that follows the article: UC opts out of controller’s public pay database (excerpt) 8/18/11, San Diego Union-Tribune Hundreds of government agencies across the state, from the Vista Irrigation District to the Governor’s Office, have provided state Controller John Chiang with detailed salary and benefit information on public employees. Not the University of California… The UC system is the only state agency that has not complied. UC officials said they already maintain a listing of employee salaries, with formulas to estimate the cost of other benefits. The complete database of…

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    How Transparent Should UC Foundations Be? The Governor Will Give Us His View Soon

    Byadmin

    Bill on university groups’ public disclosure heads to Jerry Brown CapitolAlert, 8/18/11 Leland Yee is hoping the third time’s a charm. Senate Bill 8, which would expand the authority of the California Public Records Act on the state’s college campuses, is heading to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration. The San Francisco Democrat’s two previous bills to subject college auxiliary organizations, such as foundations, to the state’s public records act were vetoed by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Senate approved amendments to the current version today, 36-1, sending it to Brown’s desk. …(L)ast year the foundation at California State University, Stanislaus,…

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    The Sun Rises on UC Online Education

    Byadmin

    In the 1950s, you could take college courses via “Sunrise Semester” on your black and white TV. Now we have online ed, where you don’t have to get up early in the morning to watch your course and it is in color. See below: UC takes first steps into online education (excerpt) Lisa M. Krieger, 8/18/2011, Contra Costa Times Going online to get a college degree has been championed as a cost-effective way to educate the masses and challenged as a cheapening of academia. Now, the online classroom is coming to the vaunted UC system, making it the nation’s first…

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    Faculty Giving to UCLA: More Generous than John D.

    Byadmin

    Faculty giving to UCLA is reported in UCLA Today of 8/16/11 and we are clearly more generous than John D. Rockefeller, at least as pictured above: …With a push from a faculty-giving campaign that launched in December 2010, faculty giving increased 51 percent from $5.81 million in FY 2010 to $8.77 million in FY 2011. The number of faculty donors also increased 17 percent from 1,312 to a total of 1,529. … Full story at http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/gift-totals-rise-for-year-as-donors-213561.aspx Thanks for Bette Billet for this reference.

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    Translated: Recreation Price Increase

    Byadmin

    The notice in italics below appeared in UCLA Today Aug. 15 (excerpt) and seems to be announcing a price increase for recreation services. Alternatively, for free you can wait to play in the snow on campus as in January 1932. UCLA Recreation has revamped its membership structure with new pricing options and simplified its offerings into three campus zones. Faculty and staff can now select memberships to access one, two or all three of the new zones, explained Bill Aberbuch, the marketing services manager for Recreation. The Central Zone includes the John Wooden Center, the Student Activities Center (except for…