News

The Farmer (Not in the) Gill

Byuclafaculty

From today’s San Francisco Chronicle: Occupy the Farm protesters agreed Saturday to end their three-week encampment on UC Berkeley property in Albany, but rebuffed an invitation from the university to discuss how the area can be used for both urban farming and for research.  Instead, the several dozen protesters set up ladders to scale the fence UC had erected around the area along San Pablo Avenue known as the Gill Tract and said they will continue to tend the vegetables and fruit trees they’ve planted on 2 of the 5 disputed acres. As a result, the UC regents said they won’t drop…

Giving Credit Where it is Due?

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, UC-Berkeley and UC-San Francisco have been calling for more autonomy from the overall UC system, including the right to set tuition at the campus level.  (UCLA has been strangely silent about the proposal, pro or con. Can there really be no opinion on this matter in Murphy Hall?)  Yours truly somehow missed the item below from May 3: Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service applauded a new University of California, Berkeley proposal to give each UC campus more autonomy, particularly when it comes to setting tuition rates. Because its seats are so coveted, Berkeley…

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The Hole Story Has Yet to Be Told

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown says there is a big “hole” in the state budget that he will tell us about on Monday in the May Revise.  As readers of this blog will know, yours truly does not like the loose way in which the state budget is described.  Words such as hole, gap, deficit, etc., are used interchangeably and without clear definition.  Try looking up “hole” in an accounting textbook.  Stocks and flows are mixed together.  Time periods vary.  Nonetheless, here is what Brown said in a video just released:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPc85z9uhJQ&w=320&h=195] Whatever “hole” means, it won’t be pleasant.  Nonetheless, yours truly will attempt…

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Berkeley Problems Continue

Byuclafaculty

On campus Protesters who stormed UC Berkeley’s main administration building late Friday afternoon have been removed from the offices by campus police. Ten people, including two UC Berkeley students, were cited for trespassing and released at about 7:30 p.m., said UC police Capt. Margo Bennett. A group of about 25 protesters called By Any Means Necessary marched into Sproul Hall at 3:30 p.m. after a rally outside. The group, which is arguing for a greater representation of minority students in the university’s undergraduate population, included several Bay Area high school students who say they were denied admission to the school……

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Winston Churchill on the Japanese Garden (and the Hotel)

Byuclafaculty

No, not really.  But there is this from Churchill: “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” ATTRIBUTION:   WINSTON CHURCHILL, remarks at a White House luncheon, June 26, 1954. His exact words are not known, because the meetings and the luncheon that day were closed to reporters, but above is the commonly cited version. His words are quoted as “It is ‘better to jaw-jaw than to war-war,’” in the sub-heading on p. 1 of the New York Times, June 27, 1954, and as “To jaw-jaw always is better than to war-war” on p. 3. The Washington Post in its June…

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Fratfolder

Byuclafaculty

That was then and this is now. ========================================== The previous post on this blog pointed to an interesting article in Inside Higher Ed about UC.  The same edition also has an article about a website, fratfolder.com, which is reported to contain uploads of past exams from various universities, not just UC.  I checked and indeed UCLA is among those universities as are other UC campuses.  However, before you panic, the collection for UCLA was not comprehensive.  Some of what has been uploaded is not exams but rather lecture notes and handouts.  And in one case a UC-Santa Barbara instructor was listed…

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Breaking Up the UC System?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today has a lengthy article on recent proposals to give the various UC campuses more autonomy. These proposals have primarily been emanating from UC-Berkeley and UC-San Francisco.  The article goes over some of the past statements and documents relating to this issue and provides a review of related developments in other state systems. The article is at:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/11/university-california-faces-questions-about-its-governance-structure Clearly, breaking up the system would be difficult: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbad22CKlB4&w=320&h=195]

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The Other Shoe to Drop (on Wilshire and the 405)

Byuclafaculty

If you thought your commuter problems to UCLA would be over once the President left town this morning, consider the following from LA County Supervisor Yaroslavsky: …Long-running closures of the 405 Freeway’s Wilshire Boulevard ramps are set to begin on Friday, June 22, bringing fresh challenges to an intersection that’s already among the nation’s worst.  Anxious residents and employees in the area have been girding for the start of the ramp work for months. Some online wags have dubbed it The Rampture, while others who live nearby refer to it ominously as “the next shoe to drop.” Whatever you call it, the work…

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November Tax Could Go Up in Smoke in June

Byuclafaculty

You probably know that Governor Brown has now filed his tax initiative for the November ballot.  He will be unveiling his May Revise 2012-13 budget proposal this coming Monday and it is likely to be unpleasant since state tax revenues are coming in below forecast levels for this year.  Exactly how UC will fare in the new proposal is unknown but it was the target of trigger cuts in the January version; the trigger would be pulled if voters do not pass the governor’s tax initiative.  (Ultimately, of course, the budget and any triggers must be enacted by the legislature;…

A Prayer for Dysfunction? In the Legislature?

Byuclafaculty

From http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/05/am-alert-seaworld-critters-turn-california-capitol-into-animal-house.html PRAYER BREAKFAST: Senate Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, and Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, are co-chairing the 51st annual California Prayer Breakfast at the Sacramento Sheraton Grand. The keynote speaker is Patrick Lencioni, author of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” The program begins at 7 a.m.Not clear on the concept.  Is there a need to pray for dysfunction in the legislature?  The May Revise budget is due on Monday.  That should provide plenty of opportunity for dysfunction.Meanwhile:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTqoTZ3lPsA&w=320&h=195] Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/05/am-alert-seaworld-critters-turn-california-capitol-into-animal-house.html#storylink=cpy