News

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    Not Again! Another Pension Initiative Filed

    Byadmin

    Ted Costa of Peoples Advocate has submitted a ballot initiative on public pensions that explicitly includes UC. Peoples Advocate is the organization originally founded by Paul Gann of the Jarvis-Gann initiative known as Prop 13. You have probably heard of Prop 13. (Joke) The organization by itself does not have funding for signature gathering. But it has a history of getting funding from others. Most notably, it kicked off the recall of Gray Davis. So I would take this initiative seriously. It has things like $100,000 caps on pensions, limits on cost of living adjustments, rules about funding, etc. It…

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    CalPERS May Contest San Jose’s Way With Pension

    Byadmin

    As noted in prior posts, it seems clear that accumulated public pension rights of retirees and current workers cannot be voided or reduced. And it is also clear that new hires can be given lesser benefits than current workers or retirees. In the private sector, benefit formulas of current worker going forward can be made less generous. However, the degree to which that is possible in the public sector has been disputed. CalPERS takes the position that only new hires can have reduced benefits and formulas. But San Jose has a measure on the ballot that would change formulas for…

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    Rooms at the Inns

    Byadmin

    UCLA (Covel on the first day) is the site of a conference sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown on “Local Renewable Energy Resources.” You can find the agenda for the event at: http://gov.ca.gov/s_energyconference.php Now here is an interesting side note to the conference. Apparently, the participants and guests can be accommodated without a big hassle (and without a new on-campus hotel). If you click on the website above, you will find the statement: Hotel information: The nearby Luxe Hotel is providing rooms at a group rate. Call (800) 468-3541 and provide the group code UCLAGOV to book a room. Below that,…

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    Fee vs. tax

    Byadmin

    The Sacramento Bee today runs an article on a shift in the new state budget towards “fees” and the impact on particular households. Temporary tax extensions ended in the last fiscal year. The legislature raised certain fees as a result. However, as the excerpt above shows, the dramatic fee increases occurred at UC and CSU where tuition went up, not directly by action of the legislature but through the governing boards of the two systems. The full graphic from which the excerpt above was taken and the accompanying article are at: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/24/3790500/california-lowers-taxes-raises.html

  • More on Take Your Med at UC-Merced

    Byadmin

    UC Merced chief finds support for med school Jul. 21, 2011 / Yesenia Amaro / Merced Sun-star There’s overwhelming support for a medical school at University of California at Merced, the school’s chancellor said Thursday during an editorial board meeting with the Sun-Star and The Modesto Bee. In the 20 days that Dorothy Leland has been on the job as leader of the university, she has been meeting with people with a stake in the campus. “Medical education, that’s probably the first thing out of everybody’s mouth … ‘How’s the medical school coming?’” … Full article at http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/07/21/2473185/uc-merced-chief-finds-support.html (Not sure…

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    OC Register Gives UC Financial Aid Program Bad Marx

    Byadmin

    As is well known, UC tuition charges are partly recycled into financial aid for lower-income students. In an editorial, the libertarian-leaning Orange County Register finds this practice to be Marxist: …The Republican caucus describes this wealth transfer as “from each according to his ability … to each according to his need.” If this sounds familiar, it’s because it was coined by Karl Marx. We wonder how many of those from whom the money is taken agree with the concept. We know it should not be done without the consent of those paying the fee. Full editorial at http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/students-309035-fees-pay.html I guess…

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    Who is supposed to salute the poll on the hotel/conference center?

    Byadmin

    We now have confirmation that the telephone poll on the hotel/conference center was in fact sponsored by the capital projects folks at UCLA. (See our earlier post of a recording of the poll.) Apparently, the goal is to have 400 completed interviews. Whether we will get info on the details of the polling methodology – how many call recipients refused to participate, etc. – is unclear. Reports have come in from people at some distance from campus that they have received poll calls. Obviously, the neighborhood opposition – presumably that is the subject of the poll – will be concentrated…

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    Data on California Higher Ed

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today pointed me towards a report on data concerning higher ed in California from the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy (CSU-Sacramento). The report covers the three systems of higher ed (CCs, CSU, UC) although often not breaking out the three separately. For example, the chart above (from Figure 14 of the report) shows that while college-going directly from high school by race is qualitatively in line with stereotypes, the main gap quantitatively between whites, Latinos, and blacks occurs at the K-12 level, i.e., dropouts and late high school finishers. (Asians are substantially above the other…

  • Med at UC Merced

    Byadmin

    UC Merced picks 5 students for medical training (excerpts) Jul. 19, 2011, Yesenia Amaro / Merced Sun-star The doctor is not quite in. But he’s on the way. University of California at Merced on Tuesday announced its first group of five students in its medical program set to begin this fall. The new program to train doctors is intended to address the lack of physicians and health gaps in the San Joaquin Valley… The UC Merced San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (PRIME) was born out of a partnership program between UC Davis and the UCSF’s Fresno facility. Students…