News

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And While We Await the Governor

Byuclafaculty

The state controller has issued a cash report that more revenue to the tune of about $2.5 billion arrived in the first six months of 2013-14 than was projected in the budget last June.  Blog readers will recall that the governor insisted on conservative projections of revenue. Note that the really big revenues will arrive around (income) tax time in April.  If you looked at the reserve in the general fund at the moment, as seen by the controller, it is negative $18.3 billion, covered by internal and external borrowing.  As many have noted, California is heavily dependent on the…

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Budget Leaks Turn into a Flood of Biblical Proportions

Byuclafaculty

We noted in prior posts that there were some leaks of the governor’s proposed budget for 2014-15, which was supposed to be unveiled on Friday.  The leaks turned into a flood of Biblical proportions when first the Sacramento Bee published some summary information about the budget yesterday, said to come from the actual budget that the Bee had obtained somehow.  Then what appeared to be the budget “summary” – actually a document of 271 pages – appeared online.  And then it was announced that the official unveiling would be today at 9 AM instead of tomorrow, confirming that what was…

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Tops

Byuclafaculty

The governor is to propose his budget for 2014-15 this coming Friday.  And although the budget is baked by now, this headline from the LA Now blog of the LA Times can’t hurt as the budget process proceeds between now and June.  The guv loves online ed and he can’t give the money to USC. But UCLA would be happy to receive it. Full article at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-online-20140107,0,7388397.story Nothing like being the top:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7152gQK-U?feature=player_detailpage]

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Is the ball still in their court or has the train left the station?

Byuclafaculty

Hey! Let’s rebuild the old stadium! Sorry to mix metaphors.  But Inside Higher Ed today has a long story on Berkeley athletics which have recently been in the news for low graduation rates and problems in funding a stadium upgrade.  A white paper from the Berkeley Center for the Study of Higher Education suggests that the program is running as an autonomous and relatively uncontrolled business operation. It is written by a former vice chancellor – who can now tell all -and a Berkeley grad student. See http://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/ROPS.CSHE_.12.13.Cummins%26Hextrum.CalAthletics.1.6.2014.pdf and http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/08/highlighting-berkeley-paper-explores-academic-damage-expanding-independent-athletics The issue is whether control can be retaken or whether…

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Neutral

Byuclafaculty

Proponents of the  proposed pension/retiree health care initiative (that would cover UC) were afraid the attorney general would come up with a nasty title and summary.  It doesn’t seem to have happened, however.  Other than the references to teachers, nurses, and peace officers (the public’s favorite public employees), it is pretty neutral.  To the extent there is mention of costs, the references come from the earlier Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report.  Below is the title and summary: January 6, 2014 Initiative 13-0043 The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points…

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Q&A

Byuclafaculty

The Contra Costa Times ran an interview with UC president Napolitano that was published yesterday.  But apparently the interview occurred in late 2013.  Here are the questions:Q: One of your first proposals was to make tuition rates more predictable. What might that look like? Q: At the last UC regents meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown said UC had slim chances of securing additional state funding, with all of the competing needs in Sacramento. What did you make of that? Q: Were you surprised by the low graduation rates for some student-athletes at Cal? (UC Berkeley’s football team had the lowest graduation…

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Follow Me, Says Crane

Byuclafaculty

We have previously reported on a proposed ballot initiative on public pensions in California that, as written, would cover UC.  There appears to be money behind the campaign for this initiative.  Another indication of such money comes in the form of a letter by former UC Regent David Crane on CalSTRS.  Crane was appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger but the appointment was not endorsed by the state senate and thus ended.  In any event, the letter from Crane addressed to Gov. Brown – which his website says in today’s Sacramento Bee – seems to be part of the larger campaign for…

What Did She Say?

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted that UC President Janet Napolitano would be interviewed on “Meet the Press.”  It appeared from the advance description that she would be commenting (negatively) on a possible pardon for NSA leaker Edward Snowden.  In fact, the interview turned out to go beyond Snowden.  She was asked about her leading of the official US delegation to the Winter Olympics in Russia and security issues that were raised by a recent terrorist bombing there.  She was also asked about her former opposition to gay marriage as governor of Arizona.  (She now favors it.)  And she…

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The First (and Only?) Budget Leak

Byuclafaculty

Only a few days ago, we noted that it is traditional that as the date of the official unveiling of the governor’s budget proposal approaches, bits of it are leaked out.  We noted that as of that time, there hadn’t been any leaks, so maybe we would depart from tradition.  But now we have a leak.  The governor wants a ballot proposition mandating a rainy day fund.  From the LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown will join the push for a new ballot measure to help California stockpile cash as a buffer against future recessions, according to two Capitol officials. The…

Don’t Beg Her Pardon

Byuclafaculty

UC Prez Janet Napolitano still seems to be carrying out a role for her former employer, the Obama administration. [Is it time to cut the cord?] As an earlier post noted, she is representing the administration at the Winter Olympics in Russia.  See: http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/12/napolitanos-mission-to-russia.html Now, after the New York Times called for some kind of pardon or clemency for NSA leaker Edward Snowden – currently in exile in Moscow – she is commenting negatively on the Times‘ suggestion.  From The Hill: Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday that she “would not put clemency on the table” for NSA…