News

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Unpreparedness: Report by the LAO

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has release a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Are Entering Freshmen Prepared For College-Level Work?” On UC: Unpreparedness rates of freshmen at UC have declined slightly in recent years. * In 2009, about 25 percent of regularly admitted freshmen arrived unprepared for college-level writing. * The percentage of freshmen needing remediation varies considerably across UC campuses. In fall 2009, the unpreparedness rates ranged from a low of 9 percent at UC Berkeley to a high of 59 percent at UC Merced. On CSU: The CSU currently admits many students who are unprepared for college-level writing and math. Of…

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Deadline day for the state budget has arrived without a budget vote. Is everything out of control?

Byuclafaculty

As prior posts have noted, Gov. Brown set a deadline of 60 days after his budget proposal was announced to have a budget passed and to obtain a 2/3 vote from the legislature to put his tax extensions on the ballot. Today is deadline day and he still has no deal for the Republican votes needed for the tax extensions. Democrats could pass a budget by majority vote that assumes there will be tax extensions but if there is no ballot vote, the budget would be out of whack. You can read about it at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/10/3463706/day-60-what-now.html We also noted in…

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Prius Public Pensions?

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post noted the ongoing negotiations between Governor Brown and certain GOP legislators as he tries to get a couple of Republican votes for his budget proposal. A 2/3 vote in the legislature is needed to put the governor’s tax extensions on the June ballot and at the moment he doesn’t have 2/3. (As previous posts have also noted, there might be a technical work-around the 2/3 rule, but is is more technical than practical.) One of the items for which Republicans are holding out is what is termed a “hybrid pension.” This notion surfaced as part of the…

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“Demand Narrative” Released for Proposed Hotel/Conference Center to Replace Faculty Club

Byuclafaculty

Below is an official “demand narrative” related to the proposed hotel/conference center that is the replace the existing Faculty Center. Center members are currently balloting on whether this project should be approved or not. The document in its original form can be found at http://www.senate.ucla.edu/documents/ProposedConferenceCenterDemandNarrative_Morabito-7Mar2011.pdf It is reproduced here in full because it is labeled “draft” and it is useful to preserve the initial language. The narrative does not directly address two issues: Downside risk. All forecasting is done with error. It seems unlikely – if the projections of revenue do not pan out – that UCLA would let this…

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Quote without comment

Byuclafaculty

UC Riverside leaders consider sweeping cuts in face of budget crisis (excerpt) Larry Gordon, LA Times, March 8, 2011 Should library hours be cut? Could some academic programs be closed or merged? Will turning down air conditioners and fixing leaky sprinklers save much money? UC Riverside administrators are mulling such questions as they face an expected reduction in the campus’ core budget next year of at least 8%, or $38 million, even as they cope with higher pension costs and energy bills. The decisions could affect the livelihoods of employees and quality of education for more than 20,000 students at…

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Regents Ponder Questions (With the aid of a management consultant)

Byuclafaculty

At the upcoming Regents session scheduled for the Ides of March, the Regents have invited a management consultant to help them ponder questions such as those below: * How can a more diverse student body be supported during a period of flattening or declining federal/or state appropriation? * How do we attract target students with the capacity to provide competitive tuition subsidization that is competitive with peer institutions? * Is the University effectively evaluating alternatives to traditional education practices (e.g. three year degrees, a multi-year tuition schedule) to help address student access and affordability issues? * How robustly is the…

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Has Brown’s Budget Plan Been Sunk by GOP Opposition: It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over

Byuclafaculty

From today’s Sacramento Bee (excerpt): Gov. Jerry Brown’s prospects of reaching a budget deal by his deadline this week dimmed markedly Monday when a quintet of Republicans with whom he’d been negotiating declared an impasse. The GOP senators for the first time released a list of demands – covering pensions, spending restrictions and education reforms, among other things – and said the Democratic governor and his legislative allies were unable to fulfill them. “We accepted your invitation to bring you our ideas on important structural reforms and willingly took to heart your admonition ‘to get out of our comfort zone,’…

Does a college degree guarantee a good job?

Byuclafaculty

In today’s NY Times, columnist and Princeton professor Paul Krugman notes that computer technology advances are undermining the job market for certain kinds of occupations that are identified with college-educated workers. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that education is the key to economic success. Everyone knows that the jobs of the future will require ever higher levels of skill… But what everyone knows is wrong…” “The fact is that since 1990 or so the U.S. job market has been characterized not by a general rise in the demand for skill, but by “hollowing out”: both high-wage and low-wage employment…

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UCLA History: Who’s Buried in Westwood?

Byuclafaculty

The photo above shows the 1962 funeral of actress Marilyn Monroe in Westwood Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery was developed in 1905 on essentially empty land, well before the UCLA campus arrived nearby in the late 1920s. Because the cemetery is now hidden by various buildings along Wilshire Blvd, many are unaware of its existence. It is behind the building housing the AVCO movie theater. (See the Google map photo on the right.) Due to its location, the cemetery the final home to many entertainment types, ranging from actor Eddie Albert to musician Frank Zappa and Hollywood mogul Darryl Zanuck. But…