News

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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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

    Byadmin

    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…

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    UCLA Developments Related to Japan Crisis

    Byadmin

    UCLA students to leave Japan as Bruins join relief effort (excerpt) Mar 17, 2011, Alison Hewitt, UCLA Today As the threat of radiation exposure grows in Japan following the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami that severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, UC decided to suspend its study-abroad programs in the country and is in the process of evacuating students, including nine UCLA students from Tokyo. Meanwhile, several UCLA professors and some campus groups are joining relief efforts, including a pediatrician who is part of a medical team trying to reach the devastated areas, a geographic information systems (GIS) expert…

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    Audio of Regents Meeting of 3-17-11

    Byadmin

    At the Regents meeting of 3-17-11, the session started with open comments. (A student from a class co-taught by yours truly in winter quarter was a speaker.) There was then a presentation by the UC-Davis chancellor, Linda Katehi, about developments on that campus, including budget concerns. The Finance Committee approved options for borrowing for the pension fund from STIP and possible pension bonds. Oddly, but consistent with earlier presentations, the primary motivation is described as a kind of interest arbitrage. In fact, the original motivation for these options was the $2 for $1 issue; roughly each $1 of contributions by…

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    UC ax doesn’t fall on Merced

    Byadmin

    UC ax doesn’t fall on Merced: Regents hear about other campuses’ struggles to slash expenses further (excerpt): Yesenia Amaro, Merced Sun-Star, 3/17/11 University of California officials are preparing plans to meet the proposed “draconian” cuts the university system is facing. But UC Merced seems to have eluded the budget ax. Those plans were discussed during the UC Board of Regents’ regularly scheduled meeting at the UC San Francisco Mission Bay campus Wednesday. UC President Mark Yudof last month assigned the 10 UC campuses target reductions or other actions to help meet the $500 million reduction proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown….