Author: uclafaculty

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Reading the Electoral Tea Leaves on Pensions

Byuclafaculty

Two major cities had pension reform propositions on the ballot yesterday and were being watched concerning voter attitudes on the subject.San Jose voters Tuesday handed Mayor Chuck Reed a crucial victory with his nationally watched pension reform measure passing by a decisive margin.  It was a big night for pension reform, with a San Diego measure also winning by a wide margin. City employee unions who argued the measures are illegal were expected to challenge both in court.  But voter approval of San Jose’s Measure B puts Reed and the city in the vanguard of efforts to shrink taxpayer bills…

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Close But No Tobacco Tax

Byuclafaculty

The proposed tobacco tax was narrowly defeated, 49.8% to 50.2% in yesterday’s voting.  As a prior post on this blog noted, the tax would not have gone into the general fund and thus would not have directly aided the UC budget. However, defeat of the tax – as also noted in the prior post – could be taken as an omen of resistance to tax hikes more generally, and therefore not a good sign for the prospect of the governor’s proposed tax initiative for November, which would go into the general fund. Yes, there was heavy anti-tobacco tax advertising by…

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Costless and Nice? Listen to the audio of the environmental hearing on the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center

Byuclafaculty

A hearing on the draft environmental impact report on the proposed UCLA hotel-conference center took place at the Faculty Center on June 5, 2012.  You can find link to the audio (1 hour and 38 minutes) below.  A total of 17 individuals spoke, either pro or con, at the meeting. A certain amount of orchestration of the testimony was apparent.  Originally, a 3-minute limit was suggested but it was dropped soon after the comments began.  The portable public address system was defective so that in some cases, the amplification went on and off.  However, all remarks should be audible at…

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Today, Transit of Venus; Tomorrow, No Transit of Obama

Byuclafaculty

Venus will cross its midpoint on the sun’s disc around 6:25 p.m. PDT. In the continental United States, the show will end at sunset, but Venus will continue to be visible on the sun’s disc until roughly 10 p.m. PDT westward. That means places like Alaska, Hawaii, Asia, Australia, eastern Africa and all but the western edge of Europe will get to see the planet exit the sun’s disc… Full story at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/transit-of-venus-2012-where-is-the-best-place-to-view-transit-of-venus-.html President Barack Obama will make another fundraising swing to Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, and traffic can be expected to be affected in Beverly Hills, Westwood and possibly…

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Winners and Losers

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times has a story today about California students who might otherwise attend a UC or CSU going instead to out-of-state public colleges.  The chart above comes from that story which is at:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-out-of-state-20120604,0,1974227,full.story There is an odd twist which the story doesn’t pick up.  If UC pulls in more out-of-staters – who pay a premium – and more Californians go out of state, from the perspective of university budgets on both sides of the California border, there is a budgetary win-win. Of course, from the viewpoint of California students, the situation is a loss compared to the past when the…

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Dodd

Byuclafaculty

Many blog readers will know that Murphy Hall is named after former UCLA Chancellor Franklin Murphy. But what about Dodd Hall which is across the street from Murphy Hall? Dodd Hall is named after Paul A. Dodd (1902-1992), an economist who joined the UCLA faculty in 1928, i.e., just before the move to Westwood.  Dodd was known for early research on health insurance and health costs in California.  He was the first director of the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations (now the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment).  Later, he was dean of the College. Dodd left UCLA to…

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The Best Laid Plans

Byuclafaculty

Hmmm.  A proposed course on Community and Conflict in the Modern World has been rejected. (See below.) Maybe this now-defunct course could have usefully reviewed the pending proposal for a UCLA hotel/conference center!  Certainly, there has been conflict over thatproposal in various communities.  And there will be more to come at the Tuesday, June 5, 7 pm hearing on the proposed hotel project at the Faculty Center. From UCLA Today, June 1, 2012: Faculty in the College of Letters and Science have voted downa proposal to require all undergraduates to enroll in a general education course in a new sub-category called Community…

Two exciting things happening this coming Tuesday, June 5

Byuclafaculty

First, there is the Transit of Venus, which the LA Times calls a “twice in a lifetime experience.”  Check it out at  http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-venus-transit-20120601,0,3065385.story The other “twice in a lifetime experience” (since we had a “scoping” hearing last fall) will be the upcoming environmental review on the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center, 7 PM, at the Faculty Center.  It is supposed to be built opposite the Transit of MTA and other bus lines near Ackerman and, as this blog has endlessly pointed out, is based on a questionable business plan which could end up costing the campus.  We have yet to find…

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Weekend Cheer from the New York Times

Byuclafaculty

California Cuts Threaten the Status of Universities Jennifer Medina, 6/1/12, NY Times Class sizes have increased, courses have been cut and tuition has been raised — repeatedly. Fewer colleges are offering summer classes. Administrators rely increasingly on higher tuition from out-of-staters. And there are signs it could get worse: If a tax increase proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown is not approved this year, officials say they will be forced to consider draconian cuts like eliminating entire schools or programs.  For generations, the University of California system — home to such globally renowned institutions as Berkeley and U.C.L.A. — has been…

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Moguls

Byuclafaculty

The historically minded might have looked at the headline above in the LA Times today and thought it had to do with increased admissions of international students: http://www.asianartmall.com/mogulempire.htmBut no, it was a different kind of mogul’s kid. Not clear there is a story here.  The mogul in question is hip-hop singer Sean Diddy Combs, sometimes known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy. At one time, he performed with a rap group known as “Diddy-Dirty Money” that recorded on a label called “Bad Boy Records.”  (The Times did not make an issue of that.) Anyway, his son got a football scholarship to…