Author: admin

  • | | |

    More Scanning of Napolitano’s Appointment

    Byadmin

    The nomination of Janet Napolitano – former head of Homeland Security and thus TSA and immigration – to be the new UC president will probably get a reasonably full going over at the Regents this week – although yours truly thinks the fix is in as far as confirming the appointment goes.  Chancellor Block evidently agrees with that assessment.  From the Daily Bruin today: …Several public figures such as President Barack Obama, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. John McCain, Gov. Jerry Brown and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block expressed their congratulations and support Friday following Napolitano’s nomination……

  • |

    Contest

    Byadmin

    Awhile back, we had a contest on this blog involving identification of someone in a photo.  Let’s try another contest.  At one time, Jerry Brown had to curb his enthusiasm for the man shown in the picture here.  Who is that man and what problem did Jerry Brown have with him?  The first person to answer correctly will win our undying admiration.   Send answers to daniel.j.b.mitchell@anderson.ucla.edu. Here is a hint that may help or confuse.  There is another hint in the text above:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuCrkFeHbQc?feature=player_detailpage]

  • |

    The Views Expressed

    Byadmin

    The story of the new UC prez continues to attract national attention: Christian Science Monitorquotes Bob Powell who makes a bit more of a qualified statement than reported elsewhere: Robert Powell, a chemical engineering professor at UC Davis who heads the system-wide academic senate, said Napolitano will … need to spend time getting to know the university by meeting with students and professors and touring campuses. “She needs to get out to the campuses – meet with faculty, meet with staff, look and see what these places are like and how students live here,” Powell said. Full story at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0713/Can-Janet-Napolitano-staunch-University-of-California-s-financial-struggles  …

  • | |

    Can’t say enough

    Byadmin

    While the governor held his tongue (see our prior post) yesterday, the new Berkeley chancellor just couldn’t find enough words of praise for state politicos in an LA Times op ed:…I applaud the California Legislature and the leadership of Speaker John A. Pérez for the bold effort to make UC and California State University attendance far more affordable through the new Middle Class Scholarship Plan. The plan will reduce tuition costs by 10% to 40% for students from families with household earnings between $100,000 and $150,000…Full op ed at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dirks-uc-tuition-20130712,0,2189269.story Flattery will get you somewhere (presumably):[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dvA-wmVPrM?feature=player_detailpage]

  • | | |

    Brief Welcome

    Byadmin

    Governor Brown, who sometimes has much to say about UC matters, seems short on words concerning the appointment of the new UC president – a former governor and fellow Democrat:Governor Brown Issues Statement on Nomination of New UC President7-12-2013 SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement on the nomination of Secretary Janet Napolitano as president of the University of California: “Secretary Napolitano has the strength of character and an outsider’s mind that will well serve the students and faculty. It will be exciting to work with her.” Source: http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18140 Everyone else had a lot to say: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/07/rapid-response-homeland-security-secretary-to-head-uc-system.html…

  • | |

    New UC President (political expertise rather than academic)

    Byadmin

    The LA Times has a report on its website this morning on the new UC president nominee: Janet Napolitano, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president of the University of California system, in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic, the Times has learned. Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history.  Napolitano’s nomination by a committee of UC regents came after a secretive process that insiders…

  • |

    Marking Territory for the UCLA Grand Hotel

    Byadmin

    Yours truly went past the Ackerman bus turnaround that UCLA closed on July 8 to make way for the grand hotel.  He expected to find lots of demolition work going on.  Instead he found a few construction cones blocking the area and some dug up landscaping.  No one was working in mid-afternoon.  So what we appear to have here so far is a marking of the territory rather than actual work.  Seems like it’s the “facts-on-the-ground” approach. Of course, marking the territory is a natural tendency and there are many ways to do it:

  • |

    Mini-Controversy Over the UC Seal

    Byadmin

    An alternative seal? There seems to be a controversy simmering in the Daily Bruin about the UC seal.  No, it’s not quite as hot a controversy as the one that arose over the attempt to create a modern replacement for the seal last year. Blog readers may recall that the proposal back then, when inverted, looked like the hindquarters of an elephant and was eventually dropped. A graduating student complained that the seal, with “let there be light” from Genesis, was insufficiently secular.  He also objected to the star and the book on similar, too-religious grounds. See http://dailybruin.com/2013/06/24/seal-does-not-reflect-academia-the-student-body/ To the defense…

  • | |

    Reconcile Yourself to the State Budget

    Byadmin

    You might as well reconcile yourself because you won’t find a reconciliation from any official source between the governor’s accrual budget (released in late June) and the state controller’s cash budget (released today). In theory, there are advantages to accrual accounting over cash accounting in judging performance, whether of a state budget or a corporation.  Accidents of timing of receipts and expenditures can distort the results for any given period.  For example, there really is no difference in a check arriving on June 30 or July 1.  But if you are on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year and look…

  • Waiting for the MOOCows to Come Home

    Byadmin

    From the Chronicle of Higher Education comes the sad tale of a MOOC in waiting: It was big news last fall when Colorado State University-Global Campus became the first college in the United States to grant credit to students who passed a MOOC, or massive open online course. For students, it meant a chance to get college credit on the cheap: $89…  Yet almost a year after Global Campus made the announcement, officials are still waiting for their first credit bargain-hunters… Full story at http://chronicle.com/article/A-Universitys-Offer-of-Credit/140131/ Our advice is to be patient and wait for a student.  Someday he will come: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0niwn2pOEno?feature=player_embedded]