News

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UC History: Teller Tells You About the Universe

Byuclafaculty

A legacy of the World War II Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb was UC’s inheritance of the nuclear labs.  The photo from the early 1950s shows key personalities related to the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: Left to right are Glenn Seaborg, Edward McMillan, E.O. Lawrence, Donald Cooksey, Edward Teller, Herb York, and Luis Alvarez. Edward Teller, often dubbed the father of the H-bomb, was undoubtedly the most controversial of these individuals. Google him for the history. However, in the 1950s, he recorded a program for lay persons on the state of cosmology in that era.  You can hear…

The Golden State of Electoral Affairs

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, there will be all kinds of exciting propositions on the state ballot this coming November, including the governor’s tax initiative that the Regents have endorsed. Since this is a sleepy weekend with not much happening UC-wise, here is a little lesson in direct democracy. Apart from the various tax and other initiatives, there is a referendum, Prop 40. A referendum is a proposition which – like an initiative – is put on the ballot via a petition. But while an initiative creates legislation or a constitutional amendment, a referendum repeals legislation that has…

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Blue Deal

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times yesterday:===Nonprofit insurer Blue Shield of California said it resolved a lengthy contract dispute with UCLA and other UC system hospitals over reimbursements for patient care. Effective Sept. 1, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital will be back in the Blue Shield network. The San Francisco health insurer said this new contract with all UC providers statewide runs through June 30, 2015… Full story at http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-ucla-blue-shield-20120810,0,3160712.story Fact of the matter is that although we have these disputes from time to time, big insurers don’t want to cut UC medical centers out of their…

And I guess they can

Byuclafaculty

In case you missed it in UCLA Today:===== What is this new tax that will affect UCLA’s budget?   Under a plan devised by the UC Office of the President (OP), campuses will retain more non-state revenue, such as tuition and research overhead costs. But, in exchange, UCLA and the other campuses will have to pay a tax to support UC systemwide operations and programs. The bottom line is this: The fee that UCLA will pay this year exceeds the new revenue the campus would receive by $50 million. It’s a tax on our operations. Source: http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/cfo-explains-budget-237352.aspx

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Click me not!

Byuclafaculty

At least their grammar is better than on Wednesday, although not perfect.  Their spelling still needs work.  See our Wednesday post on what not to click on.  Anyway, the spam artists are still targeting UCLA. Don’t respond!========= Dear Bruin OnLine (UCLA) Member Our Client Service System has detected an unusual malware activities on your email account causing poor services. Rencently your email was confirmed accessible from other ISP as a result of our remote host failure in recongnising valid and invalid accounts. Please click on the following link [phony link shown] to reconfirm the validity of your email account still in use for us to return all…

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Millionaires

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee today has a table of UC millionaires (gross earnings in 2011).  You won’t be surprised that the list, with one exception, consists of athletic coaches and medical center faculty. The one exception is the UC Treasurer. The listing is at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/08/the-university-of-california-spent.html But you don’t want to be on the list, right?[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG6UllZwj9c?feature=player_detailpage]

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Hot Potato for Yudof

Byuclafaculty

UC report on anti-Semitism draws ire Nanette Asimov, August 9, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle(excerpts) Katherine Orr had just started her freshman year at UC Berkeley last August when she was stunned to see five students in military fatigues carrying what looked like rifles and stopping students at Sather Gate. “They were asking people, ‘Are you Jewish?’ They were trying to be like soldiers interrogating Palestinians along the border,” Orr said. “They were re-enacting what was happening on the West Bank.” To students who regard Israel as an essential Jewish homeland, this event and others like it that are staged each…

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It ain’t the King’s English and since it ain’t, don’t respond.

Byuclafaculty

The latest UCLA spam artists may use British spelling but their grammar and punctuation ain’t so good: This Email is from Ucla.edu admin We are under going maintenance by our engineers we will be shutting down account that is not verified to enable us create more space for our new account users you are to verify your account by filling the outlined Information below or your account will be terminated within 24 hours. ….Username: ….Password: ….City/State: ….Date Of Birth: We value your business and thank you for using Ucla.edu Service and we hope to serve you more better. Ucla.edu Admin…

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It used to be tough to be a tenant but now it may be tough for UCLA to be a landlord

Byuclafaculty

From the Daily Bruin: On April 26, Chick-fil-A – an Atlanta-based company at the center of a controversy because of its president’s recent expression of his views on same-sex marriage – signed a lease to move into the space where Burger King is currently located, said Steve Ritea, a UCLA spokesman. The restaurant is projected to open at 900 Westwood Blvd. next March. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the previous owners of the Westwood Plaza building where Burger King is currently housed, signed the lease with Chick-fil-A. In June, UCLA completed the purchase of the 10-story office building for $72 million and inherited the lease,…

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Talk to the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

If UCOP wants to keep its Regents-enacted pension system modifications from being overridden by some statewide legislative action, it will have to talk with the legislative leaders – very, very soon it appears – and not just the governor.  From the San Jose Mercury-News: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Monday that legislative Democrats will deliver on “comprehensive” pension reform over the next four weeks, even if their labor allies don’t like it. “Will it cause some discomfort and unhappiness? Yes. Do you sometimes disagree with your allies and friends to do what you think is the right thing?…