Above is the latest PPIC poll dealing with taxes and Gov. Brown’s proposed initiative to raise them temporarily. Keep in mind that polls tend to be full of contradictory attitudes. And this is January but the actual initiative won’t be on the ballot until November. There will be lots of events between now and then. The full poll is at http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_112MBS.pdf. Note: If you click on the image above, you will see a clearer picture.
Photo shows a UCLA graduation ceremony in 1927 at the former Vermont Avenue campus.
OK. It appears – after the embarrassing LA Timesarticle yesterday on the Japanese Garden proposed sale by UCLA – that the ship has run aground.* We have angry heirs of a donor, a major Regent of his time. We may discourage future donors because of this episode. We have a statement that it was not the intent to destroy the garden, but – in contrast to that statement – the removal of objects from it in an amateur way. And it is unclear that folks at the Fowler Museum want those objects. There are angry neighborhood groups and concerned preservation…
From the Contra Costa Times: Protesters occupying the UC Berkeley’s anthropology library on campus claimed victory Saturday night when university administrators signed an agreement meeting the protesters’ demands for a fully restored library schedule. …Under the agreement, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 1 to 6 p.m. on weekends, the same hours that were kept in the Fall 2011 semester. As part of the agreement, administrators also will hire a full-time librarian… Full story at http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_19793290 Music and poetry at:
Excerpts from the LA Times article below and link to the full article: For nearly half a century, the UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden in Bel-Air has served as a serene stopover for visitors from locations as varied as Newhall, Nashville and the Netherlands. But the decision by UCLA to sell the steep hillside property and an adjoining house to raise money for endowments and professorships has the garden world in an un-Zen-like uproar. The Garden Conservancy, an organization based in New York and San Francisco, has lambasted the university’s transfer to the Fowler Museum of a five-tiered stone pagoda…
Once upon a time, the Regents were a relatively placid group, even when there was controversy. The photo on the left shows them in 1950 dealing with the loyalty oath issue. But nowadays, we learn that “the University of California Board of Regents will rally on the steps of the state Capitol in May alongside students, faculty, staff, alumni and other UC supporters, chair Sherry Lansing announced Wednesday (Jan. 18). In remarks opening the regents’ two-day meeting at UC Riverside, Lansing said the regents will meet in Sacramento May 16 and 17. She said the rally at the state Capitol…
Here is a quote from the governor’s recent budget proposal: “The University of California (UC) will receive an increase of $90 million General Fund for base operating costs, which can be used to address costs related to retirement program contributions.” Question: What does it mean? Answer: Nothing. UC has always been free to take its general revenue and put it into the pension fund. Indeed, since the state has so far refused to resume paying the employer contribution for state-funded employees into the pension fund, that is what UC has been doing. Question: If it means nothing, why are you…
The Yolo County District Attorney’s office announced today that it will not file charges against any of the 10 protesters arrested during a Nov. 18 pepper-spraying incident on the University of California, Davis, campus. The standoff between campus police and occupy protesters on the campus quad resulted in 10 arrests and a number of demonstrators being pepper-sprayed. Those arrested were cited by campus police with unlawful assembly, illegal camping or both, said Michael Cabral, assistant chief deputy district attorney… (T)he Yolo DA office’s investigation into the use of pepper spray is ongoing… Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/20/4203208/no-charges-will-be-filed-against.html
USC news service seems to have the most complete story on yesterday’s protest at the Regents meeting See: http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/01/students-shut-down-uc-regents-finance-meeting The LA Times also has a story http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uc-regents-rally-20120120,0,4723240.story Meanwhile, at UC-Berkeley: UC Berkeley faculty stand between protesters, police crackdown:http://www.mercurynews.com/occupy/ci_19779401 Update: The Riverside Press-Enterprise carried a detailed report on the Regents meeting: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20120119-riverside-protesters-and-arrests-at-uc-regents-meeting.ece
From today’s San Francisco Chronicle: Unlike the other nine campuses of the University of California, UCSF enrolls no undergraduates, offers no history classes and gets so much money from government grants that it barely depends on the tuition its students pay to attend the medical school on a windy San Francisco hill. …At Thursday’s meeting at UC Riverside, UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann told the regents, delicately, that she wants out. Under her proposal, UCSF’s medical school, hospital, clinics and research facilities would remain a public university connected to UC, the chancellor assured the regents. But the tendrils connecting the two…
