Author: admin

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    A Forget-Me-Not About the Grand Hotel Project

    Byadmin

    Over many past postings, we have noted problems with the Grand Hotel plan UCLA is determined to pursue.  Now a lawsuit is pending and an op ed has appeared in the Daily Bruin concerning the deficiencies of the project: [excerpts] Proposed UCLA conference center too costly, ignores tax code and zoning  Laura Lake, co-president of Save Westwood Village, 1-7-13 The University of California is a public trust, a public treasure, an institution of world renown, not because it operates campus hotels, but because of its faculty and student body. Broken down by square footage, the 250-room, $162 million Luskin Conference…

  • Help Wanted

    Byadmin

    When UC-Berkeley looks for someone to hire, it isn’t just a matter of putting up a sign, even though it is “financially secure.”  From a recent email: Our client, the University of California, Berkeley, is seeking a Human Resources Leader that desires a blank slate opportunity to develop and drive the HR Policy and Practice function in a brand new direction, advancing the legacy of success on behalf of an institution that has been ranked as high as third in the world, a premier, internationally renowned, financially secure teaching and research university that is consistently rated among the best in…

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    More on the Powers That Be

    Byadmin

    In an earlier post, we noted the names of state assembly members dealing with higher ed.  The state senate has a more general education committee that does all levels of education.  It will be chaired by Carol Liu who represents a district that runs from the Burbank/Pasadena area all the way east to Claremont and beyond.  Despite representing a southern California district, she has ties to UC Berkeley, especially the School of Education there. Poking around on the web, I find she at one time was on the UC-Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees and that she and her husband have…

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    Waiting Anxiously for the State Budget

    Byadmin

    Under the state constitution, the governor’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013-14 is due on Thursday, January 10.  As prior posts have noted, the leaks so far seem to indicate a focus on K-12 budgetary reforms rather than higher ed.  We will see.  Last year, as I recall, the budget was accidentally unveiled early when someone put it on the web prematurely.  Presumably, given that misstep, this time precautions are being taken to prevent such early disclosure. So what will the UC budget be?  Let’s hope it isn’t the wrong number.  Until Thursday, we’ll just have to be in suspense:[youtube…

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    It does no good but we’ll say it again…

    Byadmin

    From time to time, we have complained about newspapers that feel compelled to print public payrolls – pay and names – on the grounds that the information is available.  We have noted that with some exceptions for top executives, such publication is an invasion of privacy and invites identity theft.  The newspaper answer is always some combination of a constitutional right – freedom of the press, etc. – plus the fact that the info is public.  Yes, the info has been public all along but before the internet came along, it was de facto private in that you had to…

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    UCLA History: Davies

    Byadmin

    Actress Marion Davies writes a check to establish the UCLA Children’s Health Center in 1952 – still there and named after her.  Davies was famously portrayed in the highly fictionalized film classic “Citizen Kane” as a no-talent, alcoholic floozy/mistress of the William Randolph Hearst character.  That was but one of the elements of the film that infuriated the real Hearst and led to his attempts to suppress the film. Apart from the mistress element, however, there was no similarity between the film character and the actual person.  As it happens, the City of Santa Monica now operates the Marion Davies…

  • The Powers that Be (in Assembly)

    Byadmin

    The state assembly’s Higher Education Committee membership has been announced.  The chair is Das Williams from the Santa Barbara area who has a degree from UC-Santa Barbara.  His interests seem to be mainly in the environmental area. Full membership of the committee: Assemblymember Das Williams, ChairAssemblymember Rocky J. Chávez, Vice ChairAssemblymember Richard BloomAssemblymember Paul FongAssemblymember Steve FoxAssemblymember Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr.Assemblymember Marc LevineAssemblymember Eric LinderAssemblymember Jose MedinaAssemblymember Kristin OlsenAssemblymember Sharon Quirk-SilvaAssemblymember Shirley N. WeberAssemblymember Scott Wilk Williams’ personal website is at http://www.daswilliams.org/ Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/01/assembly-speaker-perez-announces-full-committee-line-ups.html#storylink=cpy

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    More Budget Leaks

    Byadmin

    As we have noted in prior posts, at this time of year there are leaks that appear in the news media about the forthcoming budget proposal of the governor.  We noted also that he seems to be particularly concerned with education, but at the K-12 level.  Basically, policy wonks have long supported the idea that school payments should reflect in some way the kind of student being served rather than a simple body count.  Disadvantaged students would in effect get more dollars per capita. Of course, there are winners and losers in such weighted formulas among school districts compared to…

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    Promises, Promises on UC Retiree Health

    Byadmin

    Jim Chalfant pointed me to the item below about retirees at one of the labs (Livermore) suing UC for not providing what they view as promised retiree health care benefits.  They were given a right to sue – which is not the same thing as obtaining a final favorable decision – on appeal.  UC has generally taken the position that while earned pension benefits are a vested right, retiree health care is essentially something nice UC does but doesn’t have to do.    There may be special circumstances in terms of what was said specifically to this group of employees. …