Author: admin

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    Parking Coincidence

    Byadmin

    You might be surprised to learn from the powers-that-be in parking (who say that “YOUR FEEDBACK” is so important to them – that’s what their latest memo says) that the May 6, 2011 final parking rate increases look remarkably like the April 6, 2011 proposed increases. Who would have thought there would have been such similarity? May 6: Open publication – Free publishing – More parking April 6: Open publication – Free publishing – More parking The similarity can only be a coincidence, I’m sure. P.S.: Don’t park on the sidewalk. http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/05/illegally_apronparked_cars_in_the_north_village_receive_citations_warning_of_future_tickets

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    State Spending Cap Initiative: Is It for Real?

    Byadmin

    Related to the prior post is a second initiative – also one that was submitted in connection with GOP legislative negotiations with the governor – that would cap state expenditures based on a formula linked to inflation and population growth. As with the pension initiative, it is unclear whether there is funding to obtain the needed signatures. This initiative in effect proposes to return to the Gann limit that was approved by voters in 1979 as the “son of Prop 13” that had been approved the year before. The Gann limit on state spending was largely gutted by Prop 98…

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    Pension Initiative Advances Toward Petition Stage But Is It For Real?

    Byadmin

    When initiatives are filed, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) provides an analysis, primarily of budgetary implications. Readers of this blog will know that an initiative was filed – apparently as part of the negotiations strategy of Republican legislators with the governor – which would put certain limits on public pensions. The LAO has now provided an analysis. The initiative would affect both new hires and current employees with regard to an increase in the minimum age of retirement. It is pointed out in the LAO’s analysis that this provision might well be illegal. The initiative also sets a 60% cap…

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    Chancellor Block Radio Interview on the UCLA Budget

    Byadmin

    On May 4, Chancellor Gene Block was interviewed on “Which Way LA?” concerning the UCLA and higher ed budget. He had written an op ed in the LA Times with the charge that folks in the legislature who had benefited personally from subsidized California educations were not adequately providing funding now. In his radio interview, he took a softer line. You can hear the program at the link below. The Block portion runs from minute 7 to minute 14:17:

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    UC Pension Swept In (and away?)

    Byadmin

    As noted in a prior post, an organization known as the “California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility” issued a study yesterday on public pensions. UCRP is included in the study but is not discussed. As often noted on this blog, that has been a general problem of discussions of the pension issue in California. UC is swept in but, at the same time, its special features are neglected and the focus is instead on CalPERS and other plans. In the frenzy over public pensions – with possible ballot initiatives (or possibly some deal on the state budget that would involve pensions…

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    Texas A&M Alumni Complain About Political Interference

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed pointed to the development reported below in the Houston Chronicle on the attempt by Texas Gov. Perry (right) and a management consultant to impose a faculty evaluation system at the U of Texas and Texas A&M. Prior posts on this blog have pointed to the issue: Signaling the spread of a roiling controversy, 22 “distinguished alumni” at Texas A&M University on Tuesday criticized higher education reforms advocated by Gov. Rick Perry and an influential campaign contributor as “naïve … proposals from inexperienced individuals.” The “Open Letter to the Texas A&M University Community” criticized the proposals of Jeff…

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    UC Pension Plan May Be Targeted Today

    Byadmin

    A group whose funding sources are cloudy – the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility – plans a grand unveiling today of a study on pension funding in California. The report below indicates it covers California’s 5 biggest pension funds. After CalPERS and CalSTRS, UCRP is the 3rd largest at the state level. As numerous posts on this blog have indicated, ballot initiatives aimed at capping pensions could affect UC and override the Regents’ action on the UC pension taken last December. UC could be swept into some statewide initiative even if it is not a central target of the study….

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    Reality (TV) at UC-Riverside

    Byadmin

    Some time back, before “reality” TV became popular, BBC had a program in which the CEO of a firm or organization would visit worksites and perform regular jobs to see what was really happening. For an example, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfdW6mgBEG0. (In that excerpt, the CEO of a fast food chain in the UK visits a local restaurant.) Canadian broadcasting later made a similar series. Now that reality TV is much in vogue, CBS has “Undercover Boss” which is based on the same premise. However, in the CBS version, the CEO fixes the various problems discovered, hands out money and benefits to…

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    Half Right

    Byadmin

    UCLA researchers surmised about bin Laden’s hideout (excerpt): 5/3/11 Two years before al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was discovered in a fortified compound not far from Pakistan’s capital, a team of U.S. researchers and undergraduate students took up the search as part of an academic exercise. Their concept turned out to be generally accurate, although their target was off the mark. Using satellite imagery and fundamental principles of geography, the group at the University of California, Los Angeles predicted that the mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks was probably hiding not in the rugged mountains, but inside a walled compound…

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    Severance Pay from Oil?

    Byadmin

    A new ballot initiative is going into circulation which imposes an oil severance tax for education, including higher ed. It apparently has some level of endorsement from community colleges. However, there is no money at this point for signature gathering. Hiring signature-gathering firms for an initiative costs $1-$2 million. The backers say they will use students, Facebook, etc. So far, no one has gotten anything on the ballot in recent memory without hiring signature-gathering firms. Of course, getting something on the ballot is only a first step. You then need lots more money for TV ads, particularly if you take…