UCLA History: Listen!
Chancellor Young uses bullhorn to deal with a demonstration during the 1968-69 academic year (which is the year yours truly arrived on campus).
News
Private Hotels List Concerns About UCLA Hotel/Conference Center
The trade association representing hotels on LA’s Westside have been voicing concerns from the beginning about the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center. Yesterday, the association put its concerns in writing (fax actually). Obviously, the hotels are worried about loss of business from a publicly-financed hotel. They note the loss of tax receipts to the City of LA (and cc: local city councilman Paul Koretz). As this blog has repeatedly noted, there is no available business plan for the revised hotel/conference center plan. The hotel owners point to this absence. The UCLA Faculty Assn. has submitted a Public Documents Act request for…
Details on Governor’s Pension Plan?
CalPERS has released (or someone has leaked) a draft set of comments about the governor’s 12-point pension plan. Much of what is questioned is not relevant to UC which has its own problems with the plan. (See prior posts on the legislative hearings on the plan and other aspects of it.) However, the CalPERS draft makes it clear that there is much more to be resolved than just okaying the governor’s proposed 12 points. The fact that the proposal has different implications for the various plans that CalPERS administers – something clear from the document – opens the door to…
State Budget:Ups and Downs
The latest cash report of the state controller reports ups and downs. Unfortunately, the up is more expenditure than expected through November (expected when the budget was passed in June) to the tune of almost $2 billion. And the down in that period is revenues, down by a little over $1 billion than had been forecast. As prior posts have indicated, automatic trigger cuts in the budget are very likely which will cost UC $100 million. The report is at http://sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD/CASH/fy1112_nov.pdf
UCLA History: Gathering
Students gather in front of Powell in 1929 as UCLA moves to Westwood campus.
What’s the right headline?
The California Field Poll produced the table above. But what is the right headline? The news release from Field says PLURALITY OF VOTERS SEES PUBLIC PENSIONS AS TOO GENEROUS. MOST REACT POSITIVELY TO BROWN’S REFORM PROPOSALS, WANT PENSION CHANGES TO APPLY TO BOTH CURRENT AND NEW PUBLIC EMPLOYEES But the headline could have been that despite all of the bad PR public pensions have had, 49% of voters think public pensions are about right or not generous enough. The news media will follow the Field headline. Keep the alternative in mind if some proposition on pensions gets on the ballot….
President’s Pepper Panel Named
President names members of task force Date: 2011-12-05 Contact: UC Office of the President Phone: (510) 987-9200 OAKLAND — University of California President Mark G. Yudof today (Monday, Dec. 5) appointed 12 students, faculty, alumni and staff members to serve on a task force formed to investigate the Nov. 18 pepper-spraying incident at the University of California, Davis. As previously announced, the task force will be headed by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law. Most task force members are affiliated with UC Davis and were nominated by relevant campus…
The Governor’s Open (Electronic) Letter on His Tax Initiative
Governor Jerry Brown has sent out a mass email regarding plans – that have been reported in the news media – to file a tax initiative. The same message was posted on his official website. The key word is “initiative” since – as last year’s budget process indicated – he would be unlikely to get a two-thirds vote in the legislature to put the proposition on the ballot. He is planning to go the signature route, which means he has – or expects to have – the $1-$2 million needed to pay signature gathering firms. The initiative would go on…
Public Documents Request on Hotel: We Can Come Right Over!
See prior posts for the Faculty Association’s request for the business plan of the proposed hotel/conference center. 12/4/11 Dear Ms Felker, Thank you for your response to my request for public records. Since it might take 8 weeks or more to provide me with the information I requested, and since the chancellor has already mentioned that there is a written study by a consultant, would it be possible for me to stop by Murphy Hall in person and pick up that report? That way I would be able to get some part of the information requested in a more timely…
Some Hints for the Folks Who are Processing Hotel-Related Public Records Acts Requests
The state attorney general has prepared a summary of the rules governing (timely) processing of Public Records Act requests. See below. As a prior blog post has noted, the Faculty Association has requested the business plan under the Act. See http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/11/waiting-for-plans-on-conceptual-hotel.html —————————————————- California Public Records Act CPRA (Attorney General’s Summary): Excerpts In enacting the CPRA, the Legislature stated that access to information concerning the conduct of the public’s business is a fundamental and necessary right for every person in the State… Records may be inspected at an agency during its regular office hours. The CPRA contains no provision for a…