Two proposed Santa Monica hotels From time to time, we try to give you a sense of the scale of the UCLA Grand Hotel project. A developer is proposing two hotels in downtown Santa Monica. Combined, they are roughly the size of the Grand Hotel. So imagining them squeezed together will give you a sense of the size of the project. You can also get a sense by looking at the current construction site in terms of area covered. But don’t worry about the cost:
As we noted some time back, the UCLA Hammer museum got a grant to put arts projects in various empty Westwood stores in a temporary exhibit, which is now running until Nov. 24. See http://artsrestore.la/. LA Magazine has an article and some photos about the exhibit at http://www.lamag.com/laculture/culturefilesblog/2013/11/05/repopulating-the-empty-storefronts-of-westwood-village-with-art-and-artisans. [Yours truly went by on Nov. 1 when the exhibit officially opened and not everything seemed to be ready, but maybe that has changed.]
As you can see above, Gov. Brown promised to raise $10,100 for UC by holding a brown bag lunch. Various other fund raising promises were made in connection with a campaign – Promises for Education – announced at the September Regents meeting. The campaign, which appears to be over although the website persists [http://www.promiseforeducation.org/], raised $1.3 million. From the LA Times: An unusual effort by the UC system to raise scholarship money through online crowd-funding tactics — including promises by faculty and students to lead hikes, wash cars and wear kooky costumes — has garnered $1.3 million, officials said…
Events at this week’s CSU Trustees meeting suggest what may occur at next week’s Regents meeting, especially if the governor shows up, as he has been doing. From the LA Times: (excerpt) A committee of the Cal State Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a $4.6-billion budget plan that includes money to hire faculty and increase student enrollment. The 2014-2015 proposal seeks an increase of $237.6 million in state funding. Included in that total is about $80 million to increase student enrollment by about 20,000; $13 million to hire more than 500 new, full-time faculty members; $15 million to finance…
The Committee on Investment of the Regents met yesterday. Only part of the meeting was open. As we have been doing in the past, the audio from the meeting is posted at the link below since the Regents follow a policy (why?) of archiving meetings for only one year. Investment Committee meetings are meant to show that the Regents are exercising oversight of the various funds that the Treasurer manages. They also are supposed to exercise oversight of the various campus foundations. The foundations can invest with the Regents and/or invest on their own, using their own fund managers. There…
From the Oakland Tribune: [excerpt] A systemwide smoking ban at University of California campuses includes the controversial electronic cigarette, a tobacco smoking device whose backers claim is safer than traditional smokes. The ban takes effect Jan. 2 and includes smokeless tobacco, or chew. About 10 percent of UC employees smoke cigarettes, and 8 percent of students smoke, according to a fact sheet compiled by the university. The information kit does not say how many use the new electronic cigarettes on UC campuses or in the state, but a lobbying group for the retailers who sell the devices says about 4…
We noted yesterday that the preliminary Regents’ agenda for next week did not yet include the underlying attachments. They are now available, in particular, a budget-related item. Report from LA Times: [excerpt] For the third straight year, UC students would see no tuition increase for the 2014-15 school year if state funding to the 10-campus system increases enough, according to a preliminary University of California budget released Monday. The budget proposal for next year said undergraduate tuition would remain at $12,192 before room, board and campus fees are added. Graduate and professional students pay more, and their basic fees would…
At around this time of year, the Legislative Analyst’s Office releases a summary about the budget in preparation for next year’s budget proposal that will come from the governor in early January. Below is an excerpt just for higher ed. A link to the full document follows the excerpt.================== UC, CSU, and Hastings Provides $2.8 Billion in General Fund Support for UC. The budget provides UC with $2.8 billion in General Fund support—an increase of $467 million from 2012–13. Of this increase, $200 million reflects a shift of funds used for paying general obligation bond debt service from a separate…
Regents: 1964 Edition In fact, there will be a meeting tomorrow of the Regents Committee on Investments, primarily to review returns on the UC portfolios and those of the campus foundations. See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov5.html Next week’s meetings (Nov. 12-14) are beginning to be posted as of this morning. Agenda items are available but not detailed attachments. See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov13.html You might be curious to know about an item entitled “Participation in Joint Venture to Establish and Operate a Rehabilitation Hospital, Los Angeles Campus.” Too bad if you are. It will be discussed only in a closed session:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov13/hsx.pdf
Yours truly came across a website run by a group called “California Competes,” which funded a failed lawsuit against a requirement that community colleges consult with their academic senates. However, on the group’s website were documents from the last accreditation review of UCLA back in 2009 and 2010. They are not the most fascinating bedtime reading you can find but here are the links for the curious: http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Self%20Study.pdf http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Evaluation%20Report.pdf http://californiacompetes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UCLA%20-%20Action%20Letter.pdf
