News

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There will be repercussions

Byuclafaculty

If you woke up to see the front-page healthcare headline in the LA Times, you know there will be more about this story in the future.  The article refers specifically to LA City employees not being covered for care at UCLA.  However, the report is indicative of the ongoing turmoil in the U.S. healthcare system.  Although it has been a commonplace to say that uncompensated or under-compensated healthcare costs are passed along to those who do pay, in fact that kind of cost shifting is becoming more difficult to do. We don’t have a single-payer system but the insurance coverage…

More Online Course Takers

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog featured a story about a web service that would take online courses for students.  Inside Higher Ed seems to have picked up the story and noted that other services are jumping into the online market.  Some of these sites, such as the one above, appear to have branched out from their earlier term paper writing services.  The story is at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/21/sites-offering-take-courses-fee-pose-risk-online-ed Now we know much about these services:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF6JMotbHYM?feature=player_detailpage]

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Another Poll Shows Prop 30 Marginally Ahead

Byuclafaculty

Another poll – the Field Poll – has appeared which shows the governor’s tax initiative (Prop 30) marginally ahead and the rival Munger initiative failing (Prop 38).  Earlier today, we posted similar results from the PPIC poll. The poll also shows that Prop 39, which closes a corporate tax loophole, is ahead in a plurality sense but doesn’t have a majority. Ultimately, folks must vote yes or no on initiatives but not having a majority at this stage is not a good sign. The poll is at:http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2425.pdf A Sacramento Bee article on the poll results is at:http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/09/poll-support-for-prop-30-highest-among-wealthy-educated.html

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The Sun Shall Rise Soon on the Sunset Bridge

Byuclafaculty

From Zev Yaroslavsky:  A wider, modernized Sunset Bridge is set to reopen for business on Monday, September 24, marking a major milestone in the progress of the 405 Project to bring a northbound carpool lane and other improvements to one of the nation’s most heavily-traveled freeways.  The rebuilt bridge will be 120 feet across—30 feet wider than its 1950s-era predecessor. In addition to two travel lanes in each direction, it also has new, dedicated turn lanes for motorists to access the freeway without affecting the flow of east-west traffic. Sidewalks and shoulders are wider, too, and the bridge has been…

Another ongoing saga

Byuclafaculty

Our prior post today discussed the ongoing saga of the not-quite med school at UC-Riverside.  Another ongoing saga at UC is the UC-Davis pepper spray story.  Today comes word in the Sacramento Bee that there will be no prosecution by the local DA of the police officers involved: …In viewing the incident “through the totality of the circumstances, there is insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force involved in the November 18, 2011, pepper spraying was unlawful and therefore warrants the filing of criminal charges,” officials said in a statement announcing the report’s…

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The UC-Riverside Med Saga Continues

Byuclafaculty

Readers of this blog will know that UC-Riverside has been trying to get a med school  going for some time but can’t get the needed dollars from the state. Inside Higher Ed today has a feature article on various universities either trying to merge med schools with others or trying to set up new ones. Riverside is mentioned in the article which notes it already has a joint med program with UCLA:   Securing funding has also been a problem for UC-Riverside’s medical school. The university currently has a “two-and-two” program where students spend two years at Riverside taking the…

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Sully

Byuclafaculty

I came across a headline on the Sacramento Bee website this morning:Educators sullying state law to support Proposition 30 It’s from a column by Dan Walters in which he complains that folks in higher ed – community colleges, CSU, and UC – are underhandedly letting it be known in various ways that if Prop 30 – the governor’s tax initiative – doesn’t pass, things won’t go well for their institutions.  Sample quote: “Just Tuesday, the University of California at Berkeley announced a Proposition 30 Awareness Project to test the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to distribute information…

More Dangerous Bad Grammar Spam: Don’t Click; Just Delete

Byuclafaculty

Your email account has been reported for numerous spams Activities from a foreign ip recently. As a result of this the University Of California ITS has received advice to suspend your account. However, you might not be the one promoting this Spam, as your email account might have been compromised.To protect your account from sending spam mails, You are to confirm your true ownership of this account by Clicking on this link below to Login and confirm in one simple step.On receipt of the requested information,the ucla Web-Mail email support shall block your account from Spam. [click here] Failure to do this…

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Some Handy Comparison Slides of Props 30 & 38

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has some handy comparisons of the governor’s tax initiative (Prop 30) and the rival Munger tax initiative (Prop 38).  “PIT” = personal income tax.  Three slides are below: Prop 30 Prop 38 ($7,316 is not a typo.  Prop 38 starts at a relatively low income hurdle.  A more detailed description that you will be finding in the official ballot pamphlet is: “Increases personal income tax rates on annual earnings over $7,316 using sliding scale from .4% for lowest individual earners to 2.2% for individuals earning over $2.5 million, for twelve years.” Prop 30’s income tax hurdle is much…