Author: uclafaculty

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Inquiring Minds Wonder About the December Regents Meeting: What’s the Mystery?

Byuclafaculty

A special Regents session to deal with President Yudof’s recommendations on revising UC retirement benefits has been scheduled for December. That there will be such a session has been known for a long time. However, the December schedule (or any reference at all to the December meeting), mysteriously does not appear on the Regents official website, which (at this writing) continues to list the mid-November session as the last 2010 meeting. As earlier posts document, the mid-November meeting was when the retirement proposals were outlined – but not decided. December is to be the decision date. Since the special December…

This Couldn’t Be Happening at UCLA, Could It?

Byuclafaculty

During boring classes, texting is the new doodling By Michael Rubinkam, AP, LA Daily News 11/26/2010 Tom Markley, 21, of Lehighton, Pa., a senior at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., poses with his phone in a Wilkes classroom. A recent survey by two Wilkes psychology professors found that more than 90 percent of students at the university admit to sending text messages during class. …It’s no surprise that high school and college students are obsessive texters. What alarms Wilkes psychology professors Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander is how rampant the practice has become during class: Their recent study shows that…

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Undecided: The News Media Seem Uncertain About the Impact of Tuition Hikes

Byuclafaculty

The media seem to be undecided as to how to play the impact of recent tuition hikes. They don’t affect enrollment or they do affect enrollment. Below are two examples from today’s news items: Enrollment numbers steady despite tuition hikes Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin11/25/2010 Early enrollment numbers seem immune to recent tuition hikes at California’s public universities. The California State University system received more than 360,000 applications ahead of Tuesday’s enrollment deadline for next fall, CSU spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said.The preliminary figures are inching closer to the 391,000 applications received by the CSU system for the 2009-10…

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California (and UC) Then and Now

Byuclafaculty

The image above – which is not very clear – comes from today’s Sacramento Bee. So go to http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/25/3211006_a3210969/california-browns-heyday-vs-today.html for a sharper view. When you do, note in particular the data on UC enrollment. Of course, things were not just different for Jerry Brown in the 1970s:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCH3w_LnmHE&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Why You Get Paid on Jan. 3; Not Dec. 31

Byuclafaculty

Faculty and staff recently received an email from UCLA Corporate Financial Services reminding them that their paycheck will arrive at the beginning of January rather than the end of December. All other paychecks arrive at the end of the month – not the beginning of the month – so why the exception? I can’t tell you the date in which this occurred, but it was probably in the early 1960s. At that time, everyone was paid in all months at the end of the month – including December. Then someone had a bright idea. If the Dec. 31 paycheck was…

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More Terrorism Against UCLA Researchers Reported

Byuclafaculty

UCLA researcher receives threatening package; animal activists said to claim responsibility November 23, 2010, LA Now blog of LA Times A UCLA neuroscientist who conducts animal research received a package with razor blades and a threatening message, a university spokesman said Tuesday afternoon. David Jentsch, who does research on rodents and primates, received the package earlier this month, spokesman Phil Hampton said. In a news release issued Tuesday, the Animal Liberation Front said it had obtained statements from animal activists called “The Justice Department of UCLA,” which claimed responsibility for sending AIDS-tainted razor blades to Jentsch, whom the group alleges…

If They Build It (With Federally Subsidized Bonds), Someone Will Come

Byuclafaculty

If only we could get the LA-area unemployment rate up higher, maybe UCLA could get some of those bonds. See below: UC Merced turns to federal bonds (excerpt) Jamie Oppenheim, November 23, 2010, Modesto Bee MERCED — Merced County’s recent classification as an economic recovery zone has been a boon to the University of California at Merced — making its future expansion more affordable. That could mean lots more construction jobs and a positive trickle-down impact on the area’s economy. Merced County supervisors recently gave the OK for UC Merced to use low-interest recovery zone bonds, designated for areas with…