I have put a video of the inauguration on YouTube. It is divided into two parts to meet the time duration limits of YouTube. There are considerable references to California history and personal history of Brown ancestors. There are references to the state budget crisis and pensions but no specific proposals. Part 1 Part 2 It’s not over ’til it’s over:
Are they paying attention? UC execs’ threatened lawsuit over pensions misses the point (excerpt) Jan.3, 2011, Stockton Record Three dozen of the University of California’s highest-paid executives are threatening to sue unless their pensions are substantially raised. Incredible. Perhaps these men and women, all of whom make more than $245,000 a year, are so busy doing the public’s good works that they missed that: » The state is facing a $28 billion budget deficit. » Student tuition at UC increased 32 percent last fall and will jump an additional 8 percent next fall because of sagging state support. » The…
As a prior post noted, it is traditional for governors to leak bits and pieces of their budget plans to the news media before the formal presentation. Jerry Brown will be sworn in today and undoubtedly make some budget-related remarks in his inaugural address. The formal budget comes next week. But the reality is that because the budget is a complicated document to prepare, it is already 99% done, if not 100%, and lacks only an unveiling. The latest leak explicitly mentions UC: Brown to propose broad list of budget cuts (excerpt) Jan. 03, 2011, Sacramento Bee, Kevin Yamamura The…
Inside Higher Ed today posts a review of the confusing and mixed picture in academic job openings in various fields. Among the findings as you can see below – this will anger some folks! – the job market for economists is much improved but for historians it remains dismal. Job Freefall, Job Recovery (excerpt)Jan. 3, 2011, Scott Jaschik There has never been a single academic job market: variation among disciplines, institutions and regions has always mattered. The reality of radically differing job markets may be especially clear as 2011 begins with disciplinary associations gathering for job interviews at annual meetings…
Annual Faculty Equity Adjustment The Faculty Association proposes a new annual Faculty Equity Adjustment to Salary that could incorporate a number of widely-used indicators, such as the mid-point salary point between UC’s Comparison-8 Universities, the level of the regional California Consumer Price Index (CPI), or the increased employee cost of the combined annual benefit increases (such as retirement and health). The point is that there should be an Annual Faculty Equity Adjustment. We realize that until the California economy recovers and the unending budget crisis is resolved, state funds will not be the source for funding the proposed Annual Faculty…
UC executives offer further evidence they live in bubble (excerpt) Jan. 02, 2011, Sacramento Bee We’re in a time in California when everyone has to share the pain, and leaders have to set the right example. It is dumbfounding that some top officials at the University of California are doing the exact opposite. Thirty-six executives sent a letter to UC regents on Dec. 9 with an ultimatum: Give us higher pensions or we’ll sue. They had the gall to call it a “legal, moral and ethical obligation.” What’s appalling is that people – who already earn far more than the…
Livermore Retirees Sue University Over Health Care Benefits (excerpt) Elizabeth Lesly Stevens, NY Times, 1/1/11 As one of the country’s leading nuclear physicists at one of the country’s most prestigious scientific institutions, Jay Davis has worked in the golden hills of Livermore and weapons depots of Iraq. In 1988, Mr. Davis founded the renowned Livermore Lab’s Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, which reveals the chemical makeup of substances and has helped advance research across many disciplines. …Now, to Mr. Davis’s surprise, his long association with Livermore Lab has brought him to a courthouse in Oakland. There, a State Superior Court…
The ice skating rink in Westwood being readied for operation in 1938. An earlier UCLA history post shows the rink in operation. Photo from LA Public Library.
New Years Day is a time to think about transitions. In the photo above, we see UCLA’s move under way from the Vermont Avenue campus to Westwood. The photo was taken in 1929.
In a very lame-duck action, Governor Schwarzenegger has nominated David Crane, generally billed as his economic advisor, to the UC Board of Regents. As you can see above, he is an odd mix of Democrat and Republican. Below is an excerpt from one news account: Capitol Alert, Dec. 30, 2010 Schwarzenegger appoints key economic aide as UC regent (excerpt) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named one of his top economic advisers Thursday to the governing board of the University of California, which has been rocked in recent years by California’s budget crisis. David Crane, 57, was named to fill the UC regents…
