News

traffic | transportation

Carmageddon II Coming Sept. 28
Byuclafaculty July 19, 2012

LA Supervisor Yaroslavsky provides an advance warning: Carmageddon, last summer’s blockbuster traffic success story, is back with a fall sequel. And to keep Part II from turning into the disaster predicted—and averted—the first time around, officials say it will be more important than ever to go “car-light” or “car-free” during the last weekend in September. Starting around 7 p.m. on Friday, September 28, ramps to the 405 Freeway will begin closing in advance of a weekend-long shutdown of the entire freeway through the Sepulveda Pass. The full, 10-mile stretch of the 405 running from the 10 Freeway to the 101…

Read More Carmageddon II Coming Sept. 28
UC budget crisis | UC-Riverside

No Meds Down by the Riverside Says LA Times
Byuclafaculty July 19, 2012

An earlier post noted efforts by UC-Riverside and UC-Merced to create med schools. Today the LA Times editorializes against the former. A UC Riverside medical school? Not now: Fiscal uncertainty makes this the wrong time to embark on the ambitious new project. (excerpt) It certainly would be good for UC Riverside if it had a full medical school. Professional schools — especially medical and law schools — add luster to a college’s reputation and can attract research money and elite professors. Whether it would be good for the state, or for the University of California as a whole, is another…

Read More No Meds Down by the Riverside Says LA Times
governor | politics | State Budget | UC budget crisis | UC Regents | Yudof

Regents Endorse Governor’s Tax Initiative
Byuclafaculty July 19, 2012

Although we posted an audio and some description of the July 18 morning session of the Regents in which they endorsed Prop 30, the governor’s tax initiative, you might want to read about it rather than listen. The Regents acted after the strong urging of President Yudof. Here is an excerpt from Larry Gordon’s story in the LA Times with a link: …the governing board of the 10-campus system formally endorsed the governor’s tax measure. “It’s a simple question: Will UC be better off if it passes than if it doesn’t? That’s not just an answer of ‘yes,’ that’s an…

Read More Regents Endorse Governor’s Tax Initiative
audio | new hotel-conference center | UC Regents | UCLA

Audio on the UCLA Hotel from the Regents Meeting of 7-17-12
Byuclafaculty July 19, 2012

Because of interest in the UCLA hotel/conference center discussion at the Regents meeting of 7-17-2012, here is a more accessible posting of the audio from that date, just on the hotel. It is easier to navigate than the earlier posting. Part 1 – Lawyer Statement Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Read More Audio on the UCLA Hotel from the Regents Meeting of 7-17-12
audio | diversity | new hotel-conference center | tuition | UC Regents | UC-San Francisco

Listen to Audio of the Regents’ Afternoon Session: July 18, 2012
Byuclafaculty July 19, 2012

This audio is a direct recording of the Regents’ afternoon session of July 28, 2012. At the end of the recording, it is announced that the governor is coming and that the Regents – who were going into closed session – would go back into open session when he arrived. However, the live-stream audio was shut off at that point. When we get the full audio from the Regents, if there are remarks from the governor on it, the audio will be posted. (Presumably, the governor wanted to talk about the Regents’ earlier endorsement of his tax initiative.) Otherwise, this…

Read More Listen to Audio of the Regents’ Afternoon Session: July 18, 2012
audio | ballot propositions | governor | State Budget | UC budget crisis | UC Regents

Listen to Audio of the Morning Session of the Regents: July 18, 2012
Byuclafaculty July 18, 2012

The Regents sessions on the morning of July 18thwere heavily budget oriented. This audio is incomplete and starts in the midst of President Yudof’s statement on budget matters and his advocacy of support by the Regents for the governor’s tax initiative on the November ballot. Public comments by students and others ended in a demonstration of the type that has become standard at Regents meetings. In essence, demonstrators wanted tuition freezes, even if the governor’s initiative did not pass. Other items were raised including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Eventually, police cleared the room of demonstrators. The recording continued during roughly…

Read More Listen to Audio of the Morning Session of the Regents: July 18, 2012
new hotel-conference center | UC Regents | UCLA

Making Elephants Fly
Byuclafaculty July 18, 2012

Approval by the Regents of the UCLA hotel/conference center in its present iteration may have been inevitable but it does not change the underlying economic reality of the project. It either is a white elephant or it isn’t. And the underlying economic reality goes beyond this specific proposal. Whether the governor’s tax initiative passes or not, the long-term outlook for the state’s support for UC is not bright. In an earlier post, this blog reproduced a chart from the UCLA Anderson Forecast showing the growing California job gap between the pre-1990 trend line and the actual results. Moreover the chart…

Read More Making Elephants Fly
ballot propositions | UC Regents | UCLA

Where Was UCLA?
Byuclafaculty July 18, 2012

As this item is being posted, the Regents are considering endorsement of the governor’s tax initiative. Part of the process was a memorial from the faculty on that issue. Above is a tabulation on the Regents’ agenda reporting the faculty vote. Of those voting, 93% favored the endorsement. But note that for whatever reason, few faculty members at UCLA voted. In fact, fewer voted at UCLA than at any other campus including much smaller Merced. Eric Hays of CUCFA brought this fact to my attention. The item including the table above is athttp://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/f2.pdf

Read More Where Was UCLA?
tuition | UC Regents

A Tuition Cut That Really Isn’t Is on the Regents Agenda Today
Byuclafaculty July 18, 2012

Various professional schools have what amount to tuition surcharges above the base tuition for revenue generation. An item on today’s Regents agenda for the Committee on Educational Policy would allow fast cuts in the surcharges. Why? If the governor’s tax initiative doesn’t pass, the Regents would likely quickly raise base tuition to offset the planned $250 million trigger cut. The base+surcharge might then exceed market rates for some schools, cutting into applications and admissions. Under the proposal, a quick cut in the surcharge could offset or partially offset the base increase. You can find the item at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/jul12/e1.pdf And,…

Read More A Tuition Cut That Really Isn’t Is on the Regents Agenda Today
community colleges | CSU | UC

New Law Aimed at Cheaper Higher Ed Textbooks
Byuclafaculty July 18, 2012

Description of SB 1539, Signed by Gov. Brown: The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the higher education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent institutions of higher education constitute the other segment. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education…

Read More New Law Aimed at Cheaper Higher Ed Textbooks