Author: uclafaculty

|

Official UCLA E-mail Response to Complaints About the Japanese Garden Sale

Byuclafaculty

I have so far been forwarded two responses to communications sent to Chancellor Block about the proposed sale of the Japanese Garden.  Apparently, when such complaints are received, a response is sent under the name of EVC Waugh.  The text was the same in both cases so I assume others have received the official response.  The recipient of one of the official responses gave permission for the text to be reproduced.  If you scroll towards the bottom of this posting, you will find it in italics. The response indicates that consultation was conducted with the local neighboring groups.  At the…

|

Duly Noted

Byuclafaculty

Dostoyevsky’s notes did get published.  But did you know that UC has rules against students publishing notes taken in class?  There are websites which make a business of publishing student classnotes.  Scroll to the bottom of this entry for an example.  UC threatens legal action when notes from its classes are distributed.According to CaliforniaWatch:…The policies raise questions about whether instructors or students have copyrights to the notes students take in class. While the California Education Code prohibits students and others from selling class notes – and many campuses have policies that also ban unauthorized note-selling – critics say students, not instructors, own…

|

“That Which Cannot Go on Forever Must Come to an End”

Byuclafaculty

So said Herbert Stein, who was President Nixon’s chief economist for a time.  He wasn’t speaking about rising tuition back then.  However, President Obama’s remarks on rising university tuition at the State of the Union address – which were roughly along those lines – continue to generate controversy.Inside Higher Ed today has a long piece on responses in the U.S. Senate.  The article concludes with:  Perhaps sensing a popular cause to champion with an election looming, senators in both parties seemed eager to continue discussions on how to hold down college prices.  Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, promised…

| | | | | |

We Missed the Boat on Pensions With the Governor: Time to Talk to the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

We missed the boat when it came to getting the governor to exempt UC from his statewide pension plan.  His plan, which now goes to the legislature, includes UC explicitly (p. 13), involves a hybrid plan (defined benefit plus defined contribution) for new hires, and has a 75% cap on retirement benefits. A summary of the plan: The changes would kick in Jan. 1, 2013. Labor agreements that contradict the governor’s plan would prevail until the pacts expire. The statutory language includes these proposals:• Ends additional retirement service credit purchases, or “airtime.”• Forfeits all or part of pensions for elected…

| |

No Bee Link Here

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee has updated its database of all state salaries by name, including UC employees.  No, I won’t give you the link although you can readily search it out.   Yours truly writes a weekly blog for a group called the Employment Policy Research Association.  As it happens, this week’s blog for that group tells you why I won’t supply the link to the Bee‘s database.  (The fact that the blog entry and the database appeared in the same week was a coincidence.) ===================== http://www.employmentpolicy.org/topic/402/blog/mitchell%E2%80%99s-musings-1-30-12-matters-degree Mitchell’s Musings 1-30-12: Matters of Degree Daniel J.B. Mitchell Let’s start with the admission…

| |

Regents Will Consider UC-Riverside Student Plan for Alternative to Tuition in March

Byuclafaculty

Back in 1967, the Regents were curious about the goings on in the Los Alamos Nuclear Lab aas the photo on the left shows.  According to a report in today’s Inside Higher Ed, the Regents’ curiosity this March will focus on a plan (reported in an earlier blog post) by UC-Riverside students for an alternative to tuition. Essentially, the students’ plan would involve payment after graduation as a share of income rather than the current system of upfront payment, either in cash or through a loan.  The proposal is not a new idea.  And it raises issues of logistics, i.e.,…

|

Japanese Garden Meeting Follow Up

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday’s blog featured the audio from a local meeting concerning the proposed sale of the UCLA Japanese Garden. As a follow up, you can read some documents that were distributed at the meeting below.  Also, reference was made at the meeting to the legal action that was taken by UCLA (technically by the Regents) to allow the sale.  Some legal documents from that action can also be found below.  Note that there is reference in the documents to there being no opposition from the state Attorney General.  Obviously, there has been opposition from other quarters including the Carter family.  Whether…

| | | |

UC Needs to Get Off the State Pension Train Before It Goes Too Far

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted many times, the Regents modified the UC pension plan back in December 2010 to deal with its funding issues.  Since that time, the risk has been that UC would be swept into some statewide pension reform really aimed mainly at CalPERS and CalSTRS.  UC needs to get off that train before it is too late. The excerpt below from a recent news report indicates that the train is rolling and so far we are on board. UCOP and the Regents need to be involved in legislative discussions. …At a hearing of the Legislature’s Conference Committee on…

|

Worries About the Obama Tuition Plan Seem Confined to Private Universities

Byuclafaculty

Earlier posts on this blog  noted the remarks of President Obama indicating that the federal government would somehow penalize universities whose tuitions were rising.  But yours truly also opined that it was very unlikely that public universities, such as UC, would be penalized since their tuitions were lower than the privates and they tended to enroll a greater percentage of lower income students. A short piece today in Inside Higher Ed seems to reinforce that view.  It seems that it is presidents of private universities that are upset. See http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/02/01/white-house-adviser-takes-questions-obamas-plan In short, it’s one less thing to worry about.  So be…

| |

Audio of Meeting on Sale of UCLA Japanese Garden: 1-31-12

Byuclafaculty

A hearing or meeting was held today at the Community Magnet School in Bel Air on the proposed sale of the Japanese Garden.  Representatives of the Carter family (the original donor) were there.  Hannah Carter’s son Jim was the spokesperson and strongly condemned the sale.  Also presented were histories and photographs of the garden. UCLA was represented by Bradley Erickson, Executive Director, Campus Service Enterprises. Almost all of the individuals in the audience were from the neighborhood and almost all were opposed to the sale. UPDATE: The Daily Bruin has a summary of the meeting at:http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2012/02/local_residents_faculty_alumni_oppose_sale_of_the_hannah_carter_japanese_ga Audio of the meeting…