News

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UC or not UC? – That is the question (to be answered in a few hours)

Byuclafaculty

Bits and pieces of Governor Brown’s public pension plan are leaking out ahead of his news conference later today. UC or not UC, that is the question, as Hamlet might say. But the leaked reports don’t provide the answer so we will have to wait a few hours more. The Capitol Alert report from last night and another from KCAL indicate that the reason Brown wants a ballot prop is to change the CalPERS board. Excerpt from Capitol Alert: Gov. Jerry Brown will propose a higher retirement age and a less generous pension system for newly-hired state workers, sources familiar…

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Do You Have an Opinion on APM 0668 – Negotiated Salary Program?

Byuclafaculty

To: UCLA Senate Faculty From: the UCLA Faculty Association Date: Oct. 26, 2011 Subject: UCLA FA Bulletin on APM 0668 – the proposed Negotiated Salary Program In times like these—budget cuts to higher education statewide and to UC year after year—it is good to know about the Faculty Association (FA) at UCLA, an independent organization of faculty on this campus since 1973. Its focus is singular: the general welfare of UCLA Senate faculty on the general campus and health sciences. Because it is state funded, the Academic Senate cannot use its resources to speak out on political issues. It is…

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Stand By

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts on this blog have noted, Gov. Brown has a public pension plan proposal – but no one quite knows what it is and whether, more specifically, it will cover UC (and possibly override the Regents’ pension revision of December 2010). Excerpt from Capitol Alert late yesterday: Gov. Jerry Brown will give lawmakers his plan for pension changes on Thursday, the governor said in a letter to legislators this afternoon, though it remains unclear what Brown will propose. “Given the paramount importance of pensions to both taxpayers and public employees, it is absolutely critical that we carefully examine…

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OMG

Byuclafaculty

Drivers should expect delays along Sepulveda Boulevard in Westwood starting today and continuing for three months… As part of a $1 billion project to widen the San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, Chevron needs to move a gas line that runs underneath Sepulveda Boulevard. The move requires workers to drill underground, beginning near Sepulveda and Montana Avenue. The drilling exit point will be the intersection of Sepulveda and Moraga Drive. The work requires the closure of one southbound lane of Sepulveda adjacent to the drill’s entry and exit points, said Dave Sotero of Metro. Most of Sepulveda between…

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Student Aid Alliance

Byuclafaculty

From Inside Higher Ed today (excerpt below) comes a note about the Student Aid Alliance, a higher education group of which both UC and CSU are members. Alliance Pushes to Save Pell From ‘Super Committee’ October 25, 2011 The Student Aid Alliance, a group of 74 higher education associations, advocacy groups and other organizations, announced a lobbying campaign Monday to fight possible cuts to federal financial aid as the Congressional committee on deficit reduction enters the final month before its Nov. 24 deadline… There are various links in the article including a petition that you may find of interest. Full…

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UC Admissions in Newspeak?

Byuclafaculty

UC’s new admissions rules confuse applicants: The SAT subject exams are no longer required. If students take them anyway, good scores can help but poor scores won’t hurt, administrators say. (except) Larry Gordon, LA Times, 10/24/11 …(T)he new rules have caused widespread confusion and anxiety among students about whether to take the supplemental tests known as SAT subject exams. {Note from yours truly: These tests are the subject exams, not the regular SAT which remains required.} To boost their chances of UC admission, thousands of high school seniors are taking the subject exams even though the university has dropped them…

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Just a Little Patience

Byuclafaculty

If you are like me, you will have received the postcard above last week (despite the Sept. 27 date), inviting you to look at UCLA’s crime data. But if you took up the invitation on the card to visit the website, you got the message above: Under Maintenance: The site you are trying to reach is temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. The website will be accessible shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your patience. So we patiently await: Update: The website is back up. You can go directly to the crime data at http://www.ucpd.ucla.edu/2011/2010%20Clery%20Statistics.pdf

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Monday Afternoon Traffic Alert

Byuclafaculty

An LAObserved report yesterday suggested that getting home from UCLA this coming Monday (Oct. 24) may be complicated by an “Obamajam.” (Excerpt) President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive at LAX on board Air Force One between 4:30 and 5 p.m. on Monday, the White House just announced. This means that however he moves to the Hancock Park area for Democratic campaign fundraisers … his travel will fall during the peak time for cross-town traffic. Yeah, we’re talking Obamajam again… Full article at http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2011/10/obama_arrival_monday_will.php It’s hard to imagine that the President arriving around rush hour at LAX will not affect…

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How Big?

Byuclafaculty

How big would a 282 room hotel be? That is the size of the old proposal for a hotel/conference center that was originally slated to replace the Faculty Center. To give you an idea of its size, a new hotel has just opened in Santa Monica with only 164 rooms. 164/282 = 58%. The picture above shows that the Santa Monica hotel is quite large despite the much smaller number of rooms. As prior posts have noted, none of the private hotels in the Westwood area are as big as 282 rooms. While awaiting the revised proposal for the hotel/conference…