News

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The 2009 “Toolbox” Report and the Japanese Garden (& Other Issues)

Byuclafaculty

Given the ongoing budget crisis, UCLA formed a task force to look at various revenue-generating options.  The report of the task force is dated April 24, 2009.  Among the possibilities considered was the sale of various properties including the Japanese Garden.  The report indicates that consultations with the state Attorney General were underway well before the 2010 court decision that permitted the sale, even though it was inconsistent with the existing terms of the donation.The report explores other areas such as faculty pay, fund raising, “branding,” and tuition.  You can read the full report at the link below (scroll towards…

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Official UCLA E-mail Response to Complaints About the Japanese Garden Sale

Byuclafaculty

I have so far been forwarded two responses to communications sent to Chancellor Block about the proposed sale of the Japanese Garden.  Apparently, when such complaints are received, a response is sent under the name of EVC Waugh.  The text was the same in both cases so I assume others have received the official response.  The recipient of one of the official responses gave permission for the text to be reproduced.  If you scroll towards the bottom of this posting, you will find it in italics. The response indicates that consultation was conducted with the local neighboring groups.  At the…

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Duly Noted

Byuclafaculty

Dostoyevsky’s notes did get published.  But did you know that UC has rules against students publishing notes taken in class?  There are websites which make a business of publishing student classnotes.  Scroll to the bottom of this entry for an example.  UC threatens legal action when notes from its classes are distributed.According to CaliforniaWatch:…The policies raise questions about whether instructors or students have copyrights to the notes students take in class. While the California Education Code prohibits students and others from selling class notes – and many campuses have policies that also ban unauthorized note-selling – critics say students, not instructors, own…

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“That Which Cannot Go on Forever Must Come to an End”

Byuclafaculty

So said Herbert Stein, who was President Nixon’s chief economist for a time.  He wasn’t speaking about rising tuition back then.  However, President Obama’s remarks on rising university tuition at the State of the Union address – which were roughly along those lines – continue to generate controversy.Inside Higher Ed today has a long piece on responses in the U.S. Senate.  The article concludes with:  Perhaps sensing a popular cause to champion with an election looming, senators in both parties seemed eager to continue discussions on how to hold down college prices.  Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, promised…

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We Missed the Boat on Pensions With the Governor: Time to Talk to the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

We missed the boat when it came to getting the governor to exempt UC from his statewide pension plan.  His plan, which now goes to the legislature, includes UC explicitly (p. 13), involves a hybrid plan (defined benefit plus defined contribution) for new hires, and has a 75% cap on retirement benefits. A summary of the plan: The changes would kick in Jan. 1, 2013. Labor agreements that contradict the governor’s plan would prevail until the pacts expire. The statutory language includes these proposals:• Ends additional retirement service credit purchases, or “airtime.”• Forfeits all or part of pensions for elected…

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No Bee Link Here

Byuclafaculty

The Sacramento Bee has updated its database of all state salaries by name, including UC employees.  No, I won’t give you the link although you can readily search it out.   Yours truly writes a weekly blog for a group called the Employment Policy Research Association.  As it happens, this week’s blog for that group tells you why I won’t supply the link to the Bee‘s database.  (The fact that the blog entry and the database appeared in the same week was a coincidence.) ===================== http://www.employmentpolicy.org/topic/402/blog/mitchell%E2%80%99s-musings-1-30-12-matters-degree Mitchell’s Musings 1-30-12: Matters of Degree Daniel J.B. Mitchell Let’s start with the admission…

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Regents Will Consider UC-Riverside Student Plan for Alternative to Tuition in March

Byuclafaculty

Back in 1967, the Regents were curious about the goings on in the Los Alamos Nuclear Lab aas the photo on the left shows.  According to a report in today’s Inside Higher Ed, the Regents’ curiosity this March will focus on a plan (reported in an earlier blog post) by UC-Riverside students for an alternative to tuition. Essentially, the students’ plan would involve payment after graduation as a share of income rather than the current system of upfront payment, either in cash or through a loan.  The proposal is not a new idea.  And it raises issues of logistics, i.e.,…