News

Pavlovian Professors at Johns Hopkins?

Byuclafaculty

The excerpt below from Inside Higher Ed is about student complaints at Johns Hopkins concerning fees for “clickers.” Haven’t heard of clickers? Students register their satisfaction in real time with the lecture and, presumably, the professor adapts. As noted in the video that follows the excerpt, this idea is not confined to professors. First, the excerpt: Take Your Fee and Click It! September 24, 2010 Anyone who doubts that rising tuition is making students especially thrifty when it comes to the ancillary costs of going to college might consider Johns Hopkins University, where nearly 200 students are protesting a new…

Housing the UC President

Byuclafaculty

Private funds pay for UC President’s house (excerpt) By Sean Greene, 9/23/10, Daily Bruin Nestled at the center of 10.6 acres of diverse botanical gardens in a Mediterranean-esque climate, the Blake House used to serve as the official residence of the UC president. The house stands two stories tall, occupies more than 13,000 square feet, and overlooks the San Francisco Bay from the hills of Kensington, Calif. But the house also stands next to the Hayward Fault, putting it in structural jeopardy in the event of an earthquake. The cost to resolve these concerns is in the neighborhood of $10…

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UC & UCLA Political Contributions Go Very Heavily to Democrats

Byuclafaculty

Eighty-six percent of individual contributors to political candidates at UC have given to Democrats in the current election cycle. See http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/09/politically-active-professors-dont.html The Huffington Post allows you to search for contributors by name or employer. When I entered UCLA as employer, 89% (as of today) of those identifying UCLA as employer gave to Democrats. See http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/ (As the info is updated, this figure could change. And, it’s a good idea to remember that when you donate to political campaigns, your personal information regarding the donations appears on the web.)

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LA Times Festival of Books Moving from UCLA to USC

Byuclafaculty

LAObserved.com is reporting that both UCLA and the LA Times developed contentious relations over the cost of the Festival and the desire of both sides to cut the cost. Full story at http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2010/09/times_moving_festival_of.php Editor’s Note: It was never obvious to me what UCLA got out of the Festival other than weekend traffic congestion and trampled lawns. But that’s just me. UPDATE: The Daily Bruin reports loss of ASUCLA revenue as a result of the move. http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2010/09/loss_of_festival_to_affect_revenue Departure Music:

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Most Thorough Report on UC Pension Mentions $2-for$1 Problem

Byuclafaculty

Perhaps not surprisingly, since calpensions.com covers California public pensions exclusively, the most thorough report on the recent Regents meeting on the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force recommendations and other retirement issues appeared on that source today. It includes mention of the $2-for-$1 problem – the fact that roughly $2 out of $3 in contributions that would fund the pension comes from non-state sources. Below is an excerpt from the calpensions report. The full report – scroll down for URL – contains photos of the demonstration at the Regents. A recording of the Regents meeting on the pension and retirement issue is…

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University Spending on Athletics

Byuclafaculty

Today’s Inside Higher Ed alerted me to a database maintained by USA Today on revenues and expenses of university athletics programs around the country. For UCLA in 2008-09, operating revenue of $66,177,866 is reported. Sources for that revenue in dollars and percent are: Ticket sales $24,996,824 37.8% Student fees $2,498,877 3.8% Guarantees $1,454,128 2.2% Contributions $10,006,048 15.1% Direct institutional support $210,000 0.3% NCAA/conference distributions including all tournament revenues $5,253,849 7.9% Broadcast, television, radio, and internet rights $5,900,665 8.9% Program sales, concession, novelty sales, and parking $1,318,925 2.0% Royalties, licensing, advertisements and sponsorships $9,179,351 13.9% Sports camp revenues $2,960,664 4.5% Endowment…

No Beef With Santa Cruz

Byuclafaculty

UCSC students push for meatless Mondays (excerpts) By Shanna McCord, San Jose Mercury News 09/21/2010 SANTA CRUZ — UC Santa Cruz sophomore Virginia Hanrahan hasn’t had a bite of meat since she was 15. The 19-year-old from Orange County started shunning other animal food products, such as cheese, eggs, butter and honey last year in her desire to become a vegan. “I had never associated real animals with what I was eating. Like ribs, you’re actually eating someone’s ribs,” Hanrahan, an environmental studies major, said. “Once I started thinking about it, I was disgusted.” Hanrahan — who adopted the vegetarian/vegan…

November 2010 Ballot Sing-A-Long

Byuclafaculty

There will be quite a few propositions on the November ballot. Some may have an impact on UC; others address more distant issues. TV ads are already appearing. For example, Prop 25 (majority vote on state budgets) proponents have an ad running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqmKOjorb54Back in 2006, the organization CalVoter created a song to remember the propositions on the ballot then. There is now an update to help you remember which is which and what is what. Click on the video below. The video first appeared at: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/09/video-sing-along-to-the-ballot.html But since these web news accounts tend to disappear, I have uploaded it. And…

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The Clock is Ticking on UC Pension Reform

Byuclafaculty

The clock is ticking. An interview with gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman reported today in the online Capitol Alert service of the Sacramento Bee serves as a reminder of the need for the Regents to put together a UC pension reform plan before January. In the interview, she pushes for new hires to be under a defined-contribution plan and hints that a ballot proposition to do that might be her approach. Any such proposition might well not exclude UC if UC has no plan by January. UC might then be swept into some larger statewide change. Of course, there is no…