Author: admin

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    UCOP’s Webinar on Retirement Benefits Available

    Byadmin

    UCOP ran a Town Hall webinar on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force report last Friday. It is now available as a streaming video. You can access it below or by going to http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9789931 Because there is no guarantee of how long it may remain available, I have additionally recorded it. If at some point the streaming video becomes unavailable, I can repost it. The entire session runs about 90 minutes. Pay special attention to the comments by UC-Berkeley Prof. Robert Anderson, vice chair of the systemwide Academic Council and the chair of TFIR, the subcommittee on retirement issues that reports…

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    Interview with Jerry Brown Touches on Pensions, Two-Tier, & Faculty Pay During His Previous Governorship

    Byadmin

    Jerry Brown was interviewed by the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 24. Various issues were covered. Among them were pensions, two-tier, and faculty pay during his previous term as governor (1977-83). Video below:

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    Prof. Shoup’s Campaign Against Sidewalk Parking Around UCLA

    Byadmin

    Prof. Donald Shoup in the Dept. of Urban Planning has been campaigning to end illegal parking on the sidewalks around the UCLA campus. Prof. Shoup, the author of The High Cost of Free Parking, began trying to get Jack Weiss – when he was the LA City councilman for the area – to have the police enforce the law against such parking. Parking on sidewalks blocks access for ordinary pedestrians and, particularly, for handicapped persons. A lawsuit against the City has been filed on that basis. Let’s just say that when Weiss was in office, he was not known for…

  • Shrinkage at UC-Berkeley

    Byadmin

    UC Berkeley plans to cut another 200 jobs (excerpt) Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 23, 2010 UC Berkeley, pegged by efficiency experts as bloated with too many managers, will eliminate about 200 jobs early next year to save $20 million, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has announced. “We cannot continue with our current administrative structures and operations and be the best run public university in the country,” Birgeneau said in a letter to employees Tuesday. The job elimination will be achieved through “a combination of attrition, retirements, voluntary separations and layoffs” after January, the chancellor said. That’s on top of 600…

  • Pavlovian Professors at Johns Hopkins?

    Byadmin

    The excerpt below from Inside Higher Ed is about student complaints at Johns Hopkins concerning fees for “clickers.” Haven’t heard of clickers? Students register their satisfaction in real time with the lecture and, presumably, the professor adapts. As noted in the video that follows the excerpt, this idea is not confined to professors. First, the excerpt: Take Your Fee and Click It! September 24, 2010 Anyone who doubts that rising tuition is making students especially thrifty when it comes to the ancillary costs of going to college might consider Johns Hopkins University, where nearly 200 students are protesting a new…

  • Housing the UC President

    Byadmin

    Private funds pay for UC President’s house (excerpt) By Sean Greene, 9/23/10, Daily Bruin Nestled at the center of 10.6 acres of diverse botanical gardens in a Mediterranean-esque climate, the Blake House used to serve as the official residence of the UC president. The house stands two stories tall, occupies more than 13,000 square feet, and overlooks the San Francisco Bay from the hills of Kensington, Calif. But the house also stands next to the Hayward Fault, putting it in structural jeopardy in the event of an earthquake. The cost to resolve these concerns is in the neighborhood of $10…

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    UC & UCLA Political Contributions Go Very Heavily to Democrats

    Byadmin

    Eighty-six percent of individual contributors to political candidates at UC have given to Democrats in the current election cycle. See http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/09/politically-active-professors-dont.html The Huffington Post allows you to search for contributors by name or employer. When I entered UCLA as employer, 89% (as of today) of those identifying UCLA as employer gave to Democrats. See http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/ (As the info is updated, this figure could change. And, it’s a good idea to remember that when you donate to political campaigns, your personal information regarding the donations appears on the web.)

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    LA Times Festival of Books Moving from UCLA to USC

    Byadmin

    LAObserved.com is reporting that both UCLA and the LA Times developed contentious relations over the cost of the Festival and the desire of both sides to cut the cost. Full story at http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2010/09/times_moving_festival_of.php Editor’s Note: It was never obvious to me what UCLA got out of the Festival other than weekend traffic congestion and trampled lawns. But that’s just me. UPDATE: The Daily Bruin reports loss of ASUCLA revenue as a result of the move. http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2010/09/loss_of_festival_to_affect_revenue Departure Music:

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    Most Thorough Report on UC Pension Mentions $2-for$1 Problem

    Byadmin

    Perhaps not surprisingly, since calpensions.com covers California public pensions exclusively, the most thorough report on the recent Regents meeting on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force recommendations and other retirement issues appeared on that source today. It includes mention of the $2-for-$1 problem – the fact that roughly $2 out of $3 in contributions that would fund the pension comes from non-state sources. Below is an excerpt from the calpensions report. The full report – scroll down for URL – contains photos of the demonstration at the Regents. A recording of the Regents meeting on the pension and retirement issue is…

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    University Spending on Athletics

    Byadmin

    Today’s Inside Higher Ed alerted me to a database maintained by USA Today on revenues and expenses of university athletics programs around the country. For UCLA in 2008-09, operating revenue of $66,177,866 is reported. Sources for that revenue in dollars and percent are: Ticket sales $24,996,824 37.8% Student fees $2,498,877 3.8% Guarantees $1,454,128 2.2% Contributions $10,006,048 15.1% Direct institutional support $210,000 0.3% NCAA/conference distributions including all tournament revenues $5,253,849 7.9% Broadcast, television, radio, and internet rights $5,900,665 8.9% Program sales, concession, novelty sales, and parking $1,318,925 2.0% Royalties, licensing, advertisements and sponsorships $9,179,351 13.9% Sports camp revenues $2,960,664 4.5% Endowment…