Author: admin

  • Regents Meeting of March 15, 2011: Streaming Audio

    Byadmin

    In the past, readers of this blog will know we have provided partial audio of Regents meetings. The Regents provide streaming audio of their meetings. Yours truly captured the audio – when he had the time and no schedule conflicts – using an audio recorder, converted it to video using a still picture, divided it into roughly 20 minutes segments, posted them on Facebook (which has a 20-minute video limit), and then embedded the Facebook audio/videos on the blog. This procedure was both time consuming and incomplete. From time to time, yours truly raised the question of why the Regents…

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    Time to Admit

    Byadmin

    Data are now out on UC freshmen admissions for fall 2011. Some interesting numbers are available, particularly regarding UCLA. UCLA had the lowest admission rate for fall 2011 (25.3%) among freshmen applicants of any UC campus. It got more applications for freshmen admission than any other campus. Of the 106,186 applicants to UC, 57.9% applied to UCLA. (Applicants can apply to more than one campus.) The number admitted to UCLA in percentage terms over the past one or two years grew faster than any other campus (19.5%; 28.7%). Berkeley had the lowest proportion of California admits of any UC campus…

  • Messing with the (U of) Texas

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today points to a story on efforts by Texas Governor Rick Perry to micro-manage the U of Texas. Summary at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/18/qt#257247 Perry emails tell a different story: Regents were pressed to adopt list of higher ed ‘reforms’ (excerpt) Patricia Kilday Hart, April 17, 2011, Houston Chronicle Contrary to his public statements distancing himself from a brewing controversy in higher education, Gov. Rick Perry continually pressed his appointees to university boards of regents to promptly adopt “reforms” that critics say are simplistic and harmful to research institutions, according to emails obtained by the Houston Chronicle. In May 2008,…

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    Rocketing Tuition at UC Forecast Under All-Cuts State Budget Scenario

    Byadmin

    Higher education leaders fear an all-cuts budget will be devastating (excerpt): Beige Luciano-Adams, 4/16/11, Pasadena Star-News As students across the state continue protesting cuts to higher education, state senators on the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee convened this past week for a depressing look at the devastation an “all-cuts” budget could unleash on California’s public education system. The damage for higher education, as outlined in recommendations from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, would approach $3 billion, including about $800 million slashed from community colleges and $1 billion dollars each from the California State University and University of California systems …In…

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    Careless Words: An Internet Reminder

    Byadmin

    In yet another lesson in being-careful-about-what-you-say-on-the-Internet, UCLA Law School Prof. Stephen Bainbridge’s blog complaint about service he didn’t get from FedEx produced the following from the Daily Bruin last Friday: UCLA law students are reacting with frustration to the law school dean’s response to a professor’s xenophobic blog posts, according to a student law organization. The post, made by Stephen Bainbridge, professor of corporate law, began with complaints about FedEx Express Office online services. Bainbridge described the customer service representative he spoke with as a “moron with an impenetrable accent,” and asked, “What third world shithole do they have him…

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    Waiting for my comment to register with the Register

    Byadmin

    Above is a screen image of an article of 4-14-11 from the Orange County Register. The article deals with the governor’s comment – noted in an earlier post on this blog – that UC tuition could rise substantially in the absence of a deal on the state budget. However, the OC Register inserted in the text of the article – and to the right of the headline – a link to a database of all UC salaries. Yours truly posted the following comment/request on the article this morning: Can we please see the database of all salaries of employees of…

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    LAO provides options for quality reduction at UC

    Byadmin

    The Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor continues to provide helpful suggestions for higher ed including UC regarding budgetary options:Reduce personnel costs by 10 percent at UC and 5 percent at CSU: $408 million • Could require UC faculty to teach more and research less • Could reduce sabbaticals and release time • Could increase employee benefit contributions at CSU Full list of options at http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/education/2011/Review_of_Budget_Reduction_Options_for_Higher_Education_41211.pdf [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qrjtr_uFac&w=320&h=195]

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    Possible Deal on State Budget Reported

    Byadmin

    Capitol Weekly is reported that a deal between the governor and Republican legislators is being discussed/negotiated in which the GOP would agree to extend the temporary taxes due to expire in July until November. In November, voters would be asked if they wanted to extend the taxes beyond that point. A majority vote can pass the budget which would assume, presumably, the tax extensions would pass in November. However, this is a report, not a definite fact. Details at http://capitolweekly.net/article.php?1=1&_c=zmrye1u2fjhsk6&xid=zmpzz7akq1pkwi&done=.zmq26xjhtm7yq4&_ce=1302787353.bf5f992d0229ede3494e3b6ef281820d&_c=zmrye1u2fjhsk6 Update: A related report is at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/04/at-gop-fundraiser-good-vibes-for-brown-budget.html