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Chancellor: UC Berkeley becoming a federal university

Byuclafaculty

Chancellor: UC Berkeley morphing into federal university (excerpts) February 23, 2011 | Louis Freedberg | Californiawatch.org As it gets more funding from the federal government, and less from Sacramento, UC Berkeley is effectively morphing from a state university into a federal university, according to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. In an interview yesterday, Birgeneau said the transformation will “require us to think through what our role is both in the state and nationally.” He first made the compelling case for applying the “federal” label to California’s most famous public university at a conference organized by the Travers Program in Ethics and Accountability…

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Gov. Brown Removes Controversial “Stanford Study” Author From CalSTRS Board

Byuclafaculty

Readers of this blog will know of the so-called “Stanford Study” which was designed to produce the largest possible estimate of the unfunded liability of the three major state pension funds: CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRS. Money & Company blog, LA Times Governor pulls two teachers pension fund appointees (excerpt) February 22, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown has pulled back two controversial, last-minute appointments made by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to a state teachers pension board. On Dec. 31, Republican Schwarzenegger named Steven Kram, 54, of Los Angeles and Cameron Percy, 26, to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a $150-billion pension system.Kram…

More Futurology, Courtesy of the U of Wisconsin

Byuclafaculty

In a previous blog entry, we noted another Wisconsin story, different from the one playing out in the capital. This one involves an apparent effort by the flagship campus of the U of Wisconsin at Madison to break away from the rest of the system. The issue for UC is whether, under similar budgetary strains, the same pressures will arise here in the future. Insider Higher Ed has further developments today. The full story with links to relevant documents is at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/23/qt#252043 Excerpt: The president of the University of Wisconsin System, along with the president and vice president of the…

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Harmonic Disturbance: Harman’s Pension Bill Explicitly Includes UC

Byuclafaculty

SENATE BILL No. 689 Introduced by Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) February 18, 2011 An act to add and repeal Section 7503.1 of the Government Code, relating to public retirement systems. Legislative counsel’s digest: SB 689, as introduced, Harman. Public retirement systems. Existing law requires all state and local public retirement systems to prepare an annual report in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The bill would, until January 1, 2016, require all state and local public retirement systems to file an annual report with the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office that would include specified…

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Update on Faculty Club Status: Vote Coming

Byuclafaculty

Readers of this blog know that UCLA has a plan to demolish the current Faculty Center and replace it with a conference center/hotel complex. Information on this issue – apart from prior blog entries – is available at http://facultycenter.ucla.edu/FAQs.htm At that link, you can find pro and arguments concerning the project. Added info is that an Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Faculty Center has petitioned the Faculty Center to hold a vote of the membership on the question: Should the Faculty Center be torn down and be replaced by a Convention Center/Hotel and Faculty Club? Yes or No?Arguments for…

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Presidents Day Report: Party of Lincoln Pushes Change in Public Pensions to Defined Contribution

Byuclafaculty

As we have noted repeatedly, it’s potentially not over with regard to the UC pension. A ballot proposition could easily override the Regents’ action that was taken last December. The article below notes that pensions have become the negotiating point on the state budget and getting the governor’s proposed tax extensions on the ballot. Brown’s Countdown, Day 43: State pension cuts pushed (excerpts) Kevin Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, Feb. 21, 2011 Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hailed pension cuts last year as a major reform after Democrats and state worker unions agreed to concessions that ended a record-long budget stalemate. But Republican…

UCLA History: Former President Receives Honorary Degree

Byuclafaculty

As we approach Presidents Day, it goes without saying that Washington and Lincoln knew nothing about UCLA. However, UCLA did award an honorary PhD to former President Eisenhower (shown with then-Chancellor Franklin Murphy – center – and UC President Clark Kerr -right) in April 1965. (The date has also been reported as 1963. Anyone want to research the correct date?) The building in the background is Kerckhoff Hall.

UCLA History: Ernest Moore

Byuclafaculty

Ernest Carroll Moore, shown above, was named as director of the Southern Branch of the University of California when it was created at the Vermont Avenue campus. A view of that campus appears below Moore’s photo. Moore in fact headed the prior state normal school at that location which was converted into what became UCLA. He oversaw the move to the current Westwood site in the late 1920s. His title was eventually changed to “provost” and he served until 1936. Moore Hall at UCLA is named for him.