News

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She Sure Didn’t Bumble Her Meeting with the Bee

Byuclafaculty

UC prez Napolitano had a meeting with the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee recently and, evidently, said the right things:  Editorial: Janet Napolitano is showing a clear-eyed view of UC mission By the Editorial Board Published: Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014  UC President Janet Napolitano has her priorities for the university system in correct alignment; the question will be in the execution.  In a visit to The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board on Wednesday, Napolitano showed she is a quick study… Importantly, Napolitano was clear-eyed on the basic point that UC was “designed to build California,” and that its role in…

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Enjoy the Coming MLK 3-Day Weekend on the 405 Because the Next One Won’t Be So Nice

Byuclafaculty

The road powers-that-be are warning that the Presidents’ Day weekend – as opposed to the upcoming Martin Luther King Day weekend – on the 405 near UCLA will be unpleasant: County, state and local transportation officials will warn motorists Tuesday that extended lane closures of the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass are planned over Presidents Day weekend. Metro officials are dubbing the planned 80-hour closures on the northbound 405 “Jamzilla” — not quite as serious as the two previous “Carmageddon” closures of the entire freeway, but a serious traffic issue nonetheless. The closures will take place Feb….

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Do They Understand the Key Lesson of Their MOOC?

Byuclafaculty

Seems like a contradiction! To yours truly comes word that Cornell University is offering an  online course (MOOC) on American Capitalism.No problem with that, I guess, but they are giving it away for free.  Don’t think capitalism works like that – but what do I know? Details at https://www.edx.org/course/cornellx/cornellx-hist1514x-american-capitalism-1307

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Ahead of the Curve

Byuclafaculty

The curved neuroscience building Inside Higher Ed takes note of the recent UCLA policy on requests to faculty for public documents such as emails.  Blog readers will recall a recent posting on that new policy. …Carole Goldberg, a professor of law and vice chancellor of academic personnel at UCLA, is co-chair of the joint Academic Senate-Administration Task Force on Academic Freedom, which drafted the statement. She said that no particular incident at UCLA had inspired the statement, but that faculty and administrators wanted to “get ahead of the curve” on academic freedom and scholarly communications, in light of several high-profile…

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Is there a Changing State Attitude Regarding the UC Pension? Reading Between the Lines

Byuclafaculty

As blog readers will know, UC has had difficulties in getting the state to recognize that its pension liabilities were ultimately those of the state, just as CalPERS and CalSTRS liabilities are liabilities of the state.  Thanks to the two-decade hiatus of contributions, the state seemed to forget about UC’s pension.  However, there is beginning to be recognition that although you can say the pension is a liability of the Regents, in the end the Regents have no sources other than the state and tuition to deal with it. We noted recently that in his budget document describing his proposal…

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UCLA Meteorite Exhibit Now Open

Byuclafaculty

Both the LA Times and the Daily Bruin recently carried stories about a new meteorite museum/exhibit now open in the Geology Building.  Included is a chunk of the meteorite that created the well-known Meteor Crater in Arizona. http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-meteorite-museum-20140111,0,7358495.story http://dailybruin.com/2014/01/13/ucla-officially-opens-meteorite-gallery-with-interactive-exhibit/ Yours truly hasn’t been there yet, but here is the info: WHERE: The museum is in Room 3697 of the Geology Building on the UCLA campus in Westwood. The address is 595 Charles E. Young Dr. East. WHEN: Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and some weekend afternoons. On weekends, graduate students will be on hand to answer questions…

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UCLA History: Almost 20 Years Since the Northridge Earthquake

Byuclafaculty

The 20th anniversary of the Northridge earthquake will be arriving this coming Friday.  These photos appear in the volume “UCLA: The First Century” and show damage to a dorm room (top) and post-quake repairs to Royce Hall (bottom).  Royce was closed for an extended period after the quake while repairs were made.

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Grand Hole

Byuclafaculty

Visited the Grand Hotel site after an intersession hiatus.  So far, the Grand Hotel seems to be mainly a Grand Hole where some remnants of parking structure #6 remain.  It is a big Hole, however, and you could pour a lot of money into it.  Not to worry, though.  Even though the Grand Hotel will cost over three times the donation that is paying for it, the business plan, we are assured by the powers-that-be, will eventually make us – well – wHole.

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Someone may want to see what you are doing

Byuclafaculty

Faculty should have received the email from Chancellor Block below regarding public documents requests for such things as emails.  The statement is good.  The two links provided are also useful.  But when you get through reading them, you should still regard virtually anything you email or write as potentially a public document.  Yes, various exemptions exist.  But there are gray areas.  In addition, an email you sent to someone else at another public institution – maybe in another state – might be made public there.  Even if you deleted it, the recipient may have it.  That is the reality.============ Dear…