News

Faculty Concern Expressed About Limited Discipline for UC-Berkeley Administrator

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted that a UC-Berkeley administrator who granted large pay increases to a boyfriend/subordinate seemed to have received slap-on-the-wrist discipline for the action when it came to light. The drama is apparently continuing:A growing chorus of voices is calling for the firing of a UC Berkeley administrator who helped triple her secret sex partner’s pay over five years. Calling Diane Leite’s punishment “an affront” to the university, several UC Berkeley professors have asked the school’s provost to investigate how the matter was handled. They are aghast that, instead of firing her, the university reassigned Leite from…

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Judea Pearl Wins ACM Turing Award for Artificial Intelligence Work

Byuclafaculty

The commercial news media picked up a story that appeared online in yesterday’s UCLA Today:UCLA professor Judea Pearl has been awarded one of the highest honors in the field of computer science.  Pearl was named winner of the 2011 A.M.  (sic – should be ACM) Turing Award, which carries a $250,000 prize, for his work in artificial intelligence. Pearl, 75, contributed to the field by developing mathematical formulas that factor in uncertainty. That allows computers to find connections between millions of pieces of data, even when the information is incomplete or vague. His work has made it possible for computers to think more…

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Westside Hotel Market Expanding

Byuclafaculty

We still don’t have a business plan for the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center.  But it is important to note that as the economy recovers, private hotel developers may add competitive capacity to the Westside market.  For example, a 285-room hotel is planned in Santa Monica at 7th Street and Wilshire, essentially a conversion of an existing office building. Details of the project are at:http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A.pdf http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A-1.pdf http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A-2.pdf Some guests at UCLA events might even prefer to stay in Santa Monica:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6CtZ4VkvgQ&w=320&h=195]

UC-Davis Pepper Report Likely to Be Released by April 2

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the judge hearing arguments why the official UC-Davis report on the pepper-spray incident should be redacted has signaled that the report can likely be released April 2 without redaction: The judge in Friday’s UC Davis pepper-spray hearing issued a tentative ruling late this afternoon indicating that he plans to deny efforts to stop release of a report into the Nov. 18 incident and will not agree to seal portions of the report. The ruling by Alameda Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo is not final and will be the subject of a hearing in court…

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Building Boom Raises Questions, Especially for Proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center

Byuclafaculty

Every time a construction crane is sighted on the UCLA campus, questions are raised such as those appearing in an article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  (See the italicized text below.)  All the more reason why – if there is a sound financial plan for the proposed UCLA hotel/ conference center – it needs to be released now. California has slashed public university budgets, yet construction is booming at campuses statewide.  The University of California system has $8.9 billion in building projects under way at its 10 campuses and five medical centers, including about $2 billion at UCSF, which is…

Governor Agrees to New Tax Initiative to Limit Competition Between Initiatives

Byuclafaculty

The governor apparently has negotiated a deal with groups pushing for an alternative to his tax initiative slated for this coming November.  A new initiative has been filed and signatures must now be gathered within a limited time frame since we are already in mid-March.  The chart above – which was apparently drawn up hastily for release – indicates that the sales tax increase proposed by the governor has been cut from a half cent to a quarter cent for four years.  The offset is more of an increase in the upper brackets of the state income tax with the…

Arguments on Pepper Spray Incident at UC-Davis to Be Heard in Court on Friday

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee carries a report on the upcoming (Friday) court hearing on whether the report on the UC-Davis pepper spray incident can be made public as written or whether redaction of elements regarding the individual police officers must be made.  UC takes the position that the full report is a public document. The story is athttp://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/14/4335491/pepper-spray-report-puts-spotlight.html

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Still Searching for the Hotel Business Plan – Now Overdue at the Regents If It Hasn’t Been Sent

Byuclafaculty

We’re still searching for the business plan for the proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center.  If it hasn’t been sent to the Regents by now, it should not be on the agenda.  And if it has been sent to the Regents, it exists.  So what happened to the longstanding public documents requests for the plan made by the UCLA Faculty Association and others? We noted yesterday that the story is on the front page of the LA Business Journal this week.  Now CurbedLA has picked up the tale:http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/westwood_hoteliers_fighting_uclas_campus_hotel_plans.php Like we said, we’re searching:

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On Our Level

Byuclafaculty

CalPERS’ governing board voted to cut its earnings forecast to 7.5%, the same level assumed in UCRP. There were earlier reports, as readers of this blog will know, that CalPERS would cut below us to 7.25%. If CalPERS had dropped below UCRP, the Regents might well have reduced their forecast. As noted in earlier posts, changing the earnings forecast does not change the future actual earnings.  The future will be what it will be. But lowering the forecast increases the estimated unfunded liability and could thus trigger higher contributions or some other adjustment. We will see at the upcoming Regents…

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As the Sun Rose This Morning, There Was Still No Business Plan for the Hotel/Conference Center Posted on the Regents’ Website

Byuclafaculty

We are now at the two-week deadline for getting items on the Regents’ agenda for the March 27-28 meeting but there is still no business plan for the proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center. Plan: Where are you?