News

|

What’s in a name?

Byuclafaculty

We earlier posted the elaborate video from the Housing Empire on dorm-related construction said to be needed to turn UCLA from a commuter school to a residence school. See http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/08/construction-and-demolition.html Some folks, after seeing the video, wondered where that goal came from and why it exists. But the answer is obvious. We wouldn’t want students to live in off-campus apartment buildings such as the one in Palms shown above – would we? For more on all of this, check out http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-luxury-student-housing-20110904,0,737126.story

| | |

CPEC Says Goodbye

Byuclafaculty

CPEC – the California Postsecondary Education Commission – is in the process of going out of business, since it was zeroed out in the most recent state budget. As the webshot immediately above indicates, the CPEC website will go dark sometime this month. In the meantime, however, you can still find data on higher ed, such as the chart at the top comparing UC and U of Texas tuition. (You could probably have guessed – without the chart – which has become more expensive in recent years.) Since the website is soon to be toast, some info on CPEC’s closure…

| | | |

What Does Crane’s Proposed Grand Bargain Mean for UC?

Byuclafaculty

Regent-designate David Crane – a late appointment by Gov. Schwarzenegger who has yet to be confirmed (or not) by the state senate – has pushed various versions of pension reform. In an op ed today in the Sacramento Bee, he seems to be appealing to the current governor. Whether that will carry any weight in the state senate is not clear. Basically, he wants a “Grand Bargain” on a corporate tax change – which Gov. Brown has pushed – in exchange for pension reform. Crane says nothing specifically about the UC pension, however. Is he just talking about CalPERS and…

|

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: UCLA Abroad Department

Byuclafaculty

A UCLA student who went to fight with rebel soldiers in Libya was apparently sent back to the U.S. … An Al Jazeera producer said his correspondents in Libya learned that rebels told Chris Jeon to leave the area… Jeon’s parents did not know their son had gone to Libya until journalists told them. Full story at http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8341013 And from http://www.gadailynews.com/world/72656-ucla-math-major-chris-jeon-thought-it-would-be-cool-to-join-the-rebels-and-fight-khadafy-in-libya.html we learn: “I thought it would be cool to join the rebels,” he said. “I just thought I’d come check it out.” Jeon, 21, doesn’t speak any Arabic. He couldn’t work the AK-47 he was handed. ====== Video at:

| |

On the way to trigger

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released the following statement on its most recent projection of California state revenue. Translation: So far, it looks like the budget trigger will be pulled (which means more cuts for UC). Below is the text: Despite today’s weak national employment report for the month of August, preliminary reports from California’s tax agencies on personal and corporate income tax receipts for the month tell a “good news/bad news” story. On the one hand, the tax data indicates that the California economy is continuing to recover from the recession, albeit very sluggishly. This slow recovery is essentially…

| |

Credit Where It’s Due?

Byuclafaculty

CaliforniaWatch has an article today about deals between credit card companies and universities which give the card offerers exclusive rights to mailing lists. The article is based on data released annually by the Federal Reserve. It appears that in the case of UCLA, the deal is with the UCLA Alumni Association and not UCLA itself. In 2010, the Association received $733,318 based on 26,505. The contract indicates that the card issuer has access to “members” defined as follows: “Member” means alumni, fans, ticket holders or supporters of the University of California, Los Angeles Athletic Department (“UCLA Athletic Department”) and/or other…

| | | | |

Yesterday was better

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, I posted a note that a public pension initiative that might have gone somewhere wasn’t going anywhere. (See the “Failed Fishing” entry.) But today comes news of another that could go somewhere – because, whatever it is, will emanate from the governor. Some readers will recall that the governor – in failed budget negotiations with legislative Republicans – at one point seemed to be offering such things as $100,000 caps. Some will also recall that there was no sign, at the time, that the powers-that-be at UC were informing the governor that they wanted UC to be excluded. From…