News

Etwas ist nicht ganz koscher

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted the surprise ouster of the president of the University of Virginia.  A report in Inside Higher Ed today indicates that the Board of Visitors (U-VA equivalent of the UC Regents) fired her because she allowed too much German to be taught.  “…One of the most specific disagreements between board members and Sullivan was their view that she ‘lacked the mettle to trim or shut down programs that couldn’t sustain themselves financially, such as obscure academic departments in classics and German.’  To faculty members and others at the university who have been puzzled and…

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UCLA History: Update on Rodney King

Byuclafaculty

We posted the picture above on the blog during the recent 20th anniversary of the LA riots.  It shows students at UCLA gathering in the central plaza area after the Rodney King verdict.  With the death of Rodney King being reported today on the news, you might be interested in the two videos below.  The first is the “get along” interview – which is substantially more than the widely-quoted soundbite.  The second is an interview with King 18 years after the event. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgiR04ey7-M&w=320&h=195] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKWlBuENl6Y&w=320&h=195]

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A Different Bill of Rights Pending in the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

From the Sacramento Bee: Four California universities with big-time sports programs are fighting a legislative effort that could radically change the way schools recruit, educate and retain student athletes. The schools are opposing the “Student Athlete Bill of Rights,” they say, because it would be too expensive, put their programs at a competitive disadvantage and may go against NCAA rules. Senate Bill 1525, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would require schools earning more than $10 million a year in media revenue from athletic programs to continue an athlete’s scholarship if he or she is no longer able to participate in…

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Phishing from Way Down Under

Byuclafaculty

The email below received by yours truly definitely seems phishy: This email is being sent to you because of violation security breach that was detected by our servers. Our server detected that one of the messages you received from a contact has already infected your mail with a dangerous virus. You can no longer be allowed to send messages or files to other users to prevent the spread of virus to other @UCLA.EDU users. Please follow the link below to perform maintenance work needed to improve the protection of the email for us to verify and have your account cleared against this…

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UCLA Study Indicates Santa Monica’s Lion Was Better Able to Negotiate the Freeways than Many Commuters

Byuclafaculty

…Recently released DNA results from the mountain lion that wandered into downtown Santa Monica confirm the young male was genetically tied to the local population and not a pet. Significantly, the animal was found south of the 101 Freeway and yet possessed genetic material from populations north of the freeway, a rare bright spot for a group of animals that is suffering from an extreme lack of genetic diversity. Out of concern for public safety, Santa Monica police killed the lion after attempts to sedate it failed. “The biggest threat to mountain lions in this region is the loss and…

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Waiting for a Budget Decision from the Governor

Byuclafaculty

The legislature passed a budget – sort of – last night to meet the June 15 deadline.  That – they think – will get them paid, pursuant to the new constitutional arrangements enacted by voters in 2010.  It doesn’t mean that the governor won’t veto the budget (as he did last year).  News accounts suggest that negotiations are continuing between the legislative Dems and the governor.  Note that the governor has line-item veto powers which could be used to cut more out of the budget than what was enacted. On the pay issue: Last year after the governor vetoed the…

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Bay Area Council Business Group Announces Fundraising Campaign for UC

Byuclafaculty

From the Bay Area Council’s website: A “PERFECT” WAY TO LAUNCH AN EFFORT TO SAVE THE UC SYSTEM Recent years have been unkind to the crown jewel of California’s education system, the University of California.  Budget cutting knives have hit the UC system so hard that new studies show the state will be 1 million college-educated workers short of need by 2025.  This will not be good for our members and not be good for our economy.  Bay Area Council Executive Committee member Larry Baer, who happens to also be President of the San Francisco Giants, hosted a launch event…

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Maybe the New Guy Will Take a New Look at the UCLA Hotel Project

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Daily News: Kelly Schmader, an engineer who’s headed LAUSD’s Facilities Division for two years, is leaving his $218,000-a-year post to take the top facilities job at UCLA.  In a phone interview Friday, Schmader described his move to the University of California Los Angeles as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” “I’ve always wanted to work in higher education, and a prestigious place like UCLA – as an engineer, I couldn’t pass it up,” Schmader said… Full story at http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20866656/lausd-facilities-chief-resigning-take-job-at-ucla It’s time to scale the grand hotel back. Kelly Schmader! You can just hear this project cry out for a…