News

UCLA Researcher “Firing” Questioned in Newspaper Editorial

Byuclafaculty

A case of a UCLA researcher, James E. Engstrom, who was reported soon to be “fired,” has been making the rounds of the Internet and has now penetrated print media. See below. It is not clear to me exactly the nature of the appointment involved from web sources. Dr. Engstrom’s official UCLA webpage is still active at http://www.cancer.ucla.edu/index.aspx?page=645&recordid=83 Dr. Engstrom’s work apparently is controversial because it questions ill-health effects of diesel and other pollutants and from tobacco. Googling his name pulls up various controversies surrounding his work and related personnel actions. I have no other info on this matter beyond…

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The Rent, The Rent! University Head’s Housing Raises Ire

Byuclafaculty

August 21, 2010, NY Times (Bay Area Edition) University Head’s Housing Raises Ire By STEVE FAINARU Five minutes before midnight on June 30, movers hauled the last boxes from a spectacular rented home in the Oakland Hills. The tenant’s lease was about to expire, and in his haste to get out, he left behind thousands of dollars of damage to the hardwood floors and Venetian plastered walls. The tenant was Mark G. Yudof, president of the University of California. His midnight move was the latest chapter in a two-year housing drama that has cost the university more than $600,000 and…

This Could Never Happen at UCLA Given Our Moral Minds

Byuclafaculty

August 20, 2010, NY Times (excerpt) Harvard Finds Scientist Guilty of Misconduct By NICHOLAS WADE Harvard University said Friday that it had found a prominent researcher, Marc Hauser, “solely responsible” for eight instances of scientific misconduct. Hours later, Dr. Hauser, a rising star for his explorations into cognition and morality, made his first public statement since news of the inquiry emerged last week, telling The New York Times, “I acknowledge that I made some significant mistakes” and saying he was “deeply sorry for the problems this case had caused to my students, my colleagues and my university.” Dr. Hauser is…

ASUCLA Bookstore Beware

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt picked up from Inside Higher Ed & from dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-cnu-bookstore-20100819,0,745171.storyAugust 19, 2010 NEWPORT NEWS — Students wandering Christopher Newport University’s campus next year looking for the bookstore won’t find one. The annual college tradition of buying and selling textbooks will have to take place online for CNU students. The university announced Thursday that it’s shutting down its bookstore in the David Student Union and launching a textbook website instead. The change happens Jan. 1, 2011. The decision to close the store is based on student buying patterns and the proliferation of online competition, according to CNU. Students have begun flocking…

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UC Will Front Cal Grants Held Up By Lack of State Budget

Byuclafaculty

Excerpt from Sacramento Bee, 8/20/10. It is a perilous time to be a college student depending on the state of California to get through school. Some 335,500 students going to California colleges this fall have qualified for Cal Grants because their family incomes are so low. They need the grants to pay tuition, buy books or cover basic living expenses. But without a budget for the 2010-11 year, the state is not sending out any Cal Grants. State budgets have been late for so many years now that larger institutions have adapted. Campuses in the University of California and California…

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Two Prominent Dems Join With Governor on Public Pensions

Byuclafaculty

From http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=z2hom7ay9rt20f# The call for pension reform received an unexpected boost from an unlikely source this week — former Gov. Gray Davis. In an interview with Reuters, Davis said reforms advocated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will make it easier for whomever holds the job next, and he praised Schwarzenegger for pushing for changes in the state pension system — changes that Davis said were now inevitable. “With … the open primary and redistricting reform, at least 20% of the Legislature will have its interests properly aligned, and they will be punished [by voters] if they don’t solve big problems,” he…

Furloughs of State Workers Resume

Byuclafaculty

The hold on state furloughs was lifted by the California Supreme Court while it considers various legal challenges to the governor’s furlough orders. With UC furloughs ending soon, this development potentially puts the university in a difficult position. However, absent a change in Regental policy – which realistically is not on the table – UC furloughs will end on schedule. On the state Supreme Court’s action, see http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2010/08/breaking-news-furloughs-back-o.html

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Likely Death of Public Pension Anti-Spiking Bill Will Keep Issue Alive When New Governor Arrives

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times today at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0818-pension-reform-20100818,0,3115924,print.story comes the word that a pension “spiking” reform bill has been watered down. The governor says he won’t sign it. Such a bill might have defused some of the tension and controversy around the public pension area – which could easily lead to a ballot initiative that would encompass UC’s pension. This development underlines the need – emphasized in prior posts – for the Regents to have a plan for UC in place by January. Note: “Spiking” refers to an ability by employees to inflate final earnings for the pension calculation by adding…

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Help for the UC Budget? The Pension Fund?

Byuclafaculty

From President Yudof’s Facebook page today comes the information below. Question: Can we use the coin for the UC budget? Maybe put it in the pension fund? Rare Coin Discovered in Israel by Mark Yudof on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 11:45am Congratulations to my good friend Andrea Berlin, a distinguished archeologist, who was part of an American team that discovered the heaviest gold coin ever found in Israel. The find, at Tel Kedesh archeological dig site, near Israel’s border with Lebanon, dates to 190 BCE, exactly when a final peace treaty was established between the Ptolemies of Egypt and…

That Rank Smell Is From US News & World Report

Byuclafaculty

The US News & World Report rankings of universities by name are available at http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings/order+college_sort_name/page+7 Ranks are as follows:UC-Berkeley 22, UCLA 25, UC-San Diego 35, UC-Santa Barbara and UC Davis tied at 39, UC-Irvine 41, UC-Santa Cruz 72, UC-Riverside 94. Apparently, UC-Merced doesn’t rank. Music at: