Author: admin

  • Fraud Reminder: NEVER respond to distress emails asking for money

    Byadmin

    From time to time, yours truly receives emails -seemingly from a friend or colleague – requesting money to get out of a distressful situation abroad.  Today was no exception: I really hope you get this fast. I could not inform anyone about our trip, because it was impromptu. we had to be in Philippines for Tour..The program was successful, but our journey has turned sour. we misplaced our wallet and cell phone on our way back to the hotel we lodge in after we went for sight seeing. The wallet contained all the valuables we had. Now, our passport is…

  • | | | | | | |

    Public Pension Drumbeat Continues. UC Needs to Begin Planning for Staying Out of Planned Initiative

    Byadmin

    On Saturday, we alerted blog readers to the coordinated campaign to get some kind of public pension “reform” initiative on the California ballot.  At issue on Saturday was a Stanford-Hoover MOOC, ostensibly about retirement investing, but which culminates in a program on public pensions. The pension drumbeat continues, at this point by articles on the issue. For example, a recent op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune goes on about various municipal bankruptcies but contains a suggestion for a constitutional amendment in California.  The legislature is not about to put such an amendment on the ballot so it could only by…

  • With modern recording devices, a reminder that your classes are not really private, whatever the legalities

    Byadmin

    That was then and this is now. We have reminded faculty from time to time that emails and other communications at public universities are generally not private and can be requested as public documents.  There are some questions about the legalities of students recording your classes.  A recent case in which a teacher in the LA school district was recorded cursing – and was suspended – is a reminder, however, that once a recording goes public, it can’t be retrieved.  Moreover, it is very unlikely that a student will be prosecuted for making such a recording.  And recording via cellphone…

  • |

    Follow Up on Napolitano Friendship Tour

    Byadmin

    We noted on Thursday that UC president Janet Napolitano was coming to UCLA to talk with students and others on Friday.  So what happened?  From the LA Times: UC President Janet Napolitano got a mixed reception Friday during her first official visit to UCLA, facing protesters who objected to her actions as the onetime U.S. secretary of Homeland Security but also meeting with student leaders who praised her willingness to listen.Napolitano came to the Westwood campus for private meetings with students, faculty and administrators and to attend some seminars… In brief comments to reporters, she said she would try to…

  • | | | |

    More Pension Tension (from a Stanford-Hoover MOOC)

    Byadmin

    Closed? Maybe it moved to Palo Alto. We have noted on this blog that there seems to be a move to get a public pension initiative on the ballot in California.  Although there have been previous efforts, there are signs that there may be money behind the current attempt.  “Coincidentally” – as they say – it appears that the Stanford Business School and the Hoover Institute are setting up a MOOC which on its face seems to be about general retirement issues such as how to invest your money.  But it somehow ends in a what-to-do-about-public-pensions program. From a media…

  • |

    DC Makes Lab Operations Dicey

    Byadmin

    From the San Francisco Chronicle we learn that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with 6,500 employees is due to shut down due to the federal government shutdown if a DC deal isn’t reached by October 21.  It is one of the labs administered in part by UC under a contract with the Dept. of Energy.  However, no shutdown plan is reported for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Story at http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Lawrence-Livermore-lab-faces-closure-under-4888789.php

  • | |

    Online Drones

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today is reporting on resistance to online courses at Rutgers.  Blog readers who have followed the online ed/MOOC debates won’t see surprises except for one element: The effort to offer more graduate degree programs online at Rutgers University at New Brunswick hit a snag on Wednesday, as faculty members in the Graduate School voted to block new programs from being approved… Faculty members have to sign a separate contract with the university to create an online course, which Hughes said strips them of their intellectual property rights. A draft of the agreement states that “Due to the…

  • |

    Rapid Progress on the Grand Hotel? Hold Your Applause!

    Byadmin

    Back in the day, folks used to talk about “bankers’ hours,” meaning 9 am to 3 pm.  When yours truly went by the “work” site of the UCLA Grand Hotel a little after 3 pm yesterday, not a soul was visible. Ground View View from on high No rush, of course:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846uDvMuReg?feature=player_detailpage]

  • |

    Feeling Creative?

    Byadmin

    The Santa Monica Patch features the map you see on the left which breaks down the local area around UCLA by Census tract and color codes the number of “creative class” workers in each.  If you go to the actual article (link below), you can move around the area and show tracts around the city.  It takes some fooling around with your mouse to do it.  The image you see here is just a picture; you can’t use it directly; you have to go to the link..  …”‘Creative class’” mean(s) people working in management, business, science, and the arts”… According to…

  • |

    The Visit

    Byadmin

    This might come in handy. From the Daily Bruin: University of California President Janet Napolitano will meet with more than a dozen UCLA students Friday to discuss several student concerns, such as undocumented student demands for Napolitano, revenue solutions for the UC and support for graduate students. The committee of students invited to talk with Napolitano over lunch include UCLA undergraduate and graduate student government representatives, as well as student leaders from the Muslim Student Association, Bruins for Israel and the undocumented student group, Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success, known as IDEAS, said Avi Oved, internal vice president of…