News

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Waiting for Details on the September 11-13 Regents Meeting

Byuclafaculty

The Regents are meeting Sept. 11-13 at UC-San Francisco.  Below is the preliminary agenda – which includes the architectural plans for UCLA’s Hotel Super-Grandeand an “Action Approval” for some plans related to Health Sciences at UCLA.  At the moment (7 am today), the detailed agenda items are not yet posted. Tuesday September 11 1:00 pm Committee on Compliance and Audit (Regents only session) 1:10 pm Committee of the Whole – Public Comment (open session) 1:30 pm Committee on Compliance and Audit (open session) 3:00 pm Committee on Grounds and Buildings (open session) including: GB3 Action Amendment of the Long Range…

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The Approval of the Self-Sustaining MBA Seems to be Unsustainable

Byuclafaculty

The Daily Bruin is reporting in an article dated 8/31/12 that the on-again-off-again move towards a “self sufficient” MBA program is off again: A UC Academic Senate committee voted to suspend their review of the Anderson School of Management’s proposal to become financially self-supporting, according to a memo sent to the school today.  …The proposal passed the UCLA Legislative Assembly in June. To take effect, it needed to go through the UC Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs and the UC Office of the President. The graduate affairs committee voted 10-0-1 to halt the review.  Members of the committee decided to…

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Bill to Cut Tuition Goes Down the Drain

Byuclafaculty

The bill sponsored by assembly speaker John Pérez that would close a corporate tax loophole with revenue dedicated to tuition cuts went down the drain last night.  An earlier post on this blog noted that a version of it had gotten through the assembly – despite needing a 2/3 vote.  (Pérez got an independent and one renegade GOP member to vote for it, giving him the 2/3.)  But getting 2/3 in the senate, despite all sorts of manipulations was not possible. …(A) closely watched bill may have been too unwieldy to gain orbit. That was Assembly Speaker John Pérez’s gambit…

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No “Ramp Jam” at Wilshire/Pension Deal Excluding UC Goes to Brown

Byuclafaculty

Commuters to UCLA will know that the Wilshire ramps to the I-405 have been closed for construction. That project was termed “Ramp Jam” but apparently the jam is gone.  At least some of the causes for traffic jams near UCLA as a result of the construction on the 405 are ending:=== The westbound Wilshire Boulevard onramp to the northbound 405 Freeway and the northbound 405’s offramp to westbound Wilshire will reopen Friday—three weeks earlier than planned, according to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The ramps were closed June 22 in the first phase of a yearlong effort to demolish…

Davis Chancellor in Another Controversy

Byuclafaculty

Chancellor Katehi of UC-Davis spent much of the last academic year dealing with the pepper-spray incident. Now that the pepper incident controversy is (largely) over, another one has arisen. Today’s Sacramento Bee reports a new brouhaha at Davis, this one involving the abrupt resignation of the dean of the ag school after the chancellor insisted on searching for his replacement 2 years before his term was up.  Another administrator also resigned in protest. Although the ag school’s website says “your future starts here,” apparently neither administrator saw it that way.=== …Dean Neal Van Alfen and Executive Associate Dean James D. MacDonald…

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UCLA: How about Buying Palomar?

Byuclafaculty

No, not the observatory.  The Palomar Hotel on Wilshire, a short distance from UCLA.  Back in March, the Regents asked why UCLA didn’t buy the W Hotel rather than build its own.  The W may not be for sale.  But the nearby Palomar Hotel is. See below.  And cheap, too.  Just a thought! UPDATE: We could have bought the W Hotel but it would have been twice as much, although considerably less than the planned UCLA hotel (which comes with free land, unlike the W).http://www.globest.com/news/12_423/losangeles/hotel/W-Los-Angeles-Hotel-Changes-Hands-for-125M-324549.html

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Issue ads may quack like ducks…

Byuclafaculty

…but technically, they are not ducks.  We have noted in earlier posts on this blog that a) Governor Brown seems to have a big campaign funding advantage for his tax initiative – Prop 30, but that b) “issue ads” that are not technically part of the campaign against Prop 30 have been airing on the radio.  Apparently, a new TV ad is airing sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which can be inferred to suggest voting against tax increases, but doesn’t mention Prop 30 (or the other two tax propositions on the ballot). Exactly why the U.S. Chamber is…

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More on the Hot Potato: Assembly May Reconsider

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, we posted a hot potato item concerning a state assembly resolution dealing with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel demonstrations on California campuses.  Issues were raised about free speech implications of the (non-binding) resolution. Readers will recall from that posting that UC declined to comply.  Now apparently the assembly may reconsider, although in the future – not now:=== A state lawmaker is promising to introduce a fix to an Assembly resolution that stirred controversy because it urged California universities to crack down on demonstrations against Israel.  Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said Wednesday that she would work on a resolution that would affirm First…