Author: admin

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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. …

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    Understanding California

    Byadmin

    The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) from time to time issues out a publication called “CalFacts” which, as the name suggests, contains a variety of data on California – including the chart above.  It’s available at:http://lao.ca.gov/reports/2013/calfacts/calfacts_010213.pdf And for those who have forgotten our state song (previously posted):

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    Don’t Miz This

    Byadmin

    A group of college students – reported by Inside Higher Ed to be from Boston University – produced a YouTube commentary on the state of the job market faced by graduating seniors.  You can see it embedded in the Inside Higher Ed article at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/01/02/les-mis%C3%A9rables-college-parody or below:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkGuKcuczKM?feature=player_detailpage]

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    It’ll Be a Long Time Before Any of These Ideas Come to Pass

    Byadmin

    Sepulveda Pass Tunnel: 1935 An earlier post (Dec. 27) on this blog noted that the MTA has various long-range plans for dealing with the traffic bottleneck through the Sepulveda Pass, just north and slightly west of UCLA.  Readers will not have to be reminded of the fact that the current project of widening the 405 and replacing bridges has been the source of major traffic headaches. The LA Daily News carries an updated story about the MTA’s plans which range from modest to a very expensive tunnel which would carry both rail and cars.  You can read about these plans…

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    The Blog Compendium: 4th Quarter of 2012

    Byadmin

    Each quarter, we give you the alternative of reading the last three months of the UCLA Faculty Assn. blog as a kind of online book.  In that mode, you don’t get the audios and videos.  And the formatting sometimes comes out oddly.  But, nonetheless, you can find a link below to the compendium for the fourth quarter of 2012. Open publication – Free publishing – More ucla

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    The Local Equivalent of Dropping the Ball in Times Square on New Years

    Byadmin

    LAObserved and KCRW seem to have discovered the Westwood equivalent of watching the ball descend in Times Square at midnight, New Years.  The smoking deaths sign resets to zero, apparently attracting a crowd.  Of course, if you are reading about this ritual today, you will have to wait until next year to partake.  But you don’t have to go far from UCLA to be a participant. The LAObserved article is at:http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/12/new_years_eve_at_the_smok.php The KCRW program can be heard at:

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    Some Closing Thoughts for 2012

    Byadmin

    U of Chicago Economics Professor Steven Levitt, co-author of the Freakonomics books, radio programs, blog, etc., made some interesting comments about business and MBA education in the context of a larger discussion of confirmation bias. Basically, he says that willingness to admit ignorance and non-expertise is not part of the business culture and that MBAs learn confidently to provide answers to questions for which they don’t know the answers. Admitting you don’t know is unacceptable. You can hear his comments at the link below. One suspects that the problem is not just one of business but of management of all…

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    UC Recent History: Appalled at the Fed

    Byadmin

    Lots of news stories are appearing at this time of the year summing up events of 2012.  John Myers, who writes a Capitol Connection blog for a Bay Area TV station, including various photos of such events.  From the presidential campaign, he included a picture of Ron Paul speaking at UC-Berkeley on April 5, 2012 and leading audience chants of “End the Fed.” So maybe the image of UC-Berkeley as exclusively leftist needs some qualification if Paul could have a successful rally there.  Or maybe the photo and event just reflect the fact that there are those on the left…

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    Who did in the deli?

    Byadmin

    As a recent post noted, one of the few deli options near UCLA – Junior’s on Westwood Blvd. near Pico – as about to close.  The original story indicated that the closure was due to a rent hike. But apparently the landlord doesn’t want to be the villain and says the true culprits are the owners of Junior’s who inherited the business and are not operating it effectively.  In any event, no one is saying it isn’t closing.  All we can do is look on with a rye sense of humor. Updated story is at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/landlord-blames-owners-for-impending-closure-of-junior-s-deli?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

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    We might as well join the fiscal cliff discussion with this cheery note

    Byadmin

    …The University of California system estimates it would lose $335 million in federal research funding this fiscal year, according to Christopher Harrington, spokesman for UC’s Washington, D.C., office. That represents roughly 8 to 9 percent of UC’s research portfolio from such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy… And on the state budget:…Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, said he believes the U.S. would experience a “mild recession” absent a fiscal cliff deal, largely because of lower consumption. He also warned that reduced profits in 2013…