News

What $200,000 a year buys at the U of Texas

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed points today to a story in an Austin, Texas paper. The story speaks for itself. UT regents’ special adviser losing his job: Rick O’Donnell’s criticism of academic research didn’t sit well with lawmakers, others. Austin American-Statesman, 3/24/11, Ralph K.M. Haurwitz A special adviser with controversial views on research, teaching and other matters was reassigned by the University of Texas System on Thursday to a new job that will end by Aug. 31. The move is unlikely to quell concerns about the direction of the state’s largest and most prestigious university system under Gene Powell, chairman of the…

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UCOP & Regents: Don’t Say Later You Weren’t Warned

Byuclafaculty

Two initiative petitions were submitted earlier today. One, reproduced below, deals with pensions. It would explicitly cover UC and, thus, would override the pension changes enacted by the Regents last December. For example, it limits the final pension to 60% of final salary. It covers existing employees as well as new hires. The second is essentially a revival of the old GANN initiative that was passed by voters shortly after Prop 13. The GANN limit restricted the rise in state spending (general fund plus other funds) to the inflation rate plus the growth in population. GANN was essentially gutted in…

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Poll Results on Pensions and Budgets: Let’s Be Cautious in Interpreting the Results

Byuclafaculty

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) takes a respected monthly poll on public attitudes in the state on political and policy issues. The March release is just out. Taken at face value, the public is very concerned about the state budget situation (Figure 2 – scroll down below), there is slippage in support for a special election advocated by Gov. Brown on tax extensions (although a bare majority still support the plan – Figure 3), cutting public pensions is seen as a good way to balance the budget (Figure 4), and the way to reform public pensions is to…

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Outlines of Plan B on the State Budget? Or Negotiating?

Byuclafaculty

Gov. Brown has been hinting that – if he can’t get Republican votes in the next few days to put tax extensions on the ballot – he will do something else to get on the ballot. Example: Brown considering other paths on taxes as Republicans stand firm in talks Steven Harmon, Contra Costa Times, 3/22/11 SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown continued to negotiate with Republican legislators on his plan to extend taxes, he also has begun to weigh going it alone, sources said Tuesday. That could take two paths — forcing a special election onto the ballot through a…

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Panic in the Streets

Byuclafaculty

From former State Assembly Leader Willie Brown’s column this week in the San Francisco Chronicle: What a town. I was at Walgreens the other afternoon and was stunned by the number of people lined up to buy potassium iodide to ward off the possible effects of radiation wafting over from Japan. Even more stunning was watching those same people, clutching their iodide protection, proceed to jaywalk across New Montgomery Street and dodge cars in their rush to get back to work. Full column is at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/20/BAAT1IEMD4.DTL Actually, the item in the column that you might want to panic about is…

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Faculty Club Membership Votes Heavily Against Demolishing It for Hotel/Conference Center

Byuclafaculty

The item below appeared earlier today on the Faculty Center website. Apparently, the membership does not have the problem pictured to the right: The Votes Have Been Tallied!The ballots on the question “Should the Faculty Center building be torn down to be replaced by a Hotel/Conference Center/Faculty Club” have been counted in the presence of representatives of the various interested groups and the outcome is: Yes = 269 (in favor of the FC being replaced) No = 815 (oppose the FC being replaced) The results will be communicated to those involved in planning the proposed Hotel/Conference Center/Faculty Club. Taken from…

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Brown Appeals to Public for 2/3 Vote on Tax Extensions

Byuclafaculty

Gov. Brown still does not have the few Republican votes he needs to put his proposed tax extensions on the ballot. My guess is that he has until about April 1 to get those votes if the election is to occur before the end of June. An election could occur after June 30, of course, but that would a) put it into the next fiscal year (for which the vote is supposed to apply) and b) make it hard to refer to the proposal as tax “extensions” (rather than increases) since the temporary taxes will then have expired. Below is…

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Body Parts and Hotels

Byuclafaculty

Some of you who read the LA Times may have been reminded of the body parts scandal at UCLA that unfolded about 6 years ago by a column that appeared yesterday by Sandy Banks. You may not have connected it, however, with the current controversy about the hotel/conference center proposed to replace the existing Faculty Center. Below is an excerpt from the column by Banks, followed by some observations and a question. — Lost UCLA cadavers’ final chapter: With no hope of winning lawsuits over loved ones’ remains, relatives fight for the last word. Sandy Banks, March 19, 2011, LA…

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UC-San Diego Tightening GPA Standards for Transfers from Community Colleges

Byuclafaculty

UCSD policy limits community college students: Raising GPA requirement to 3.5 will exclude many students from program (excerpt): Pat Flynn, March 18, 2011, San Diego Union-Tribune With transfer applications soaring and budget cuts looming, the University of California San Diego is raising the threshold on a guaranteed admission program for the state’s community college students. For years, community college students who took specific courses and obtained a 3.0 grade-point average could count on admission under the program called Transfer Admissions Guarantee, or TAG. But faced with growing demand and limited capacity, UCSD officials in recent weeks have notified community college…

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Sorry Tale Ends: UCLA student who posted anti-Asian rant on YouTube leaving university

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Daily News, 3/18/11 (excerpt): A UCLA student whose anti-Asian rant on YouTube made national headlines announced today that she plans to leave the university. In an apology letter sent to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper, Alexandra Wallace wrote that the video has led to “the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats and being ostracized from an entire community.” … Wallace sent the letter on the same day the university announced it would not be taking any disciplinary action against her. In her letter to the Daily Bruin, Wallace said she…