News

| |

Sweeping Pension Changes by New Governor Could Cover UC if Regents Don’t Act

Byuclafaculty

While the article below refers only to CalPERS and CalSTRS, as has been noted in prior posts, UC is in danger of having its pension system covered by some sweeping initiative that would cover all public pensions in California. A new governor takes office in early January 2011. Unless UC has a plan of its own – and unless the Regents push for UC autonomy as other statewide policies are debated – the consequences could be unfortunate. Note part in bold italics below. — Pension reform: Brown picks up where he left off (excerpts) By Ed Mendel calpensions.com 7/31/10 In…

“Transparency” Bill Would Affect UC Campus Foundations

Byuclafaculty

Bill aims to increase transparency at UC, CSU (excerpts from full article) By ROBIN HINDERY, Associated Press Writer August 16, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle (08-16) 17:29 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) — Foundations and auxiliary organizations linked to California’s public colleges and universities would be subject to increased scrutiny under a bill approved Monday by the state Assembly. Lawmakers voted unanimously to require those organizations to comply with the California Public Records Act. A loophole in the law previously has allowed the nonprofits to bypass the disclosure requirements that apply to higher education institutions. In a 2001 case involving Fresno State…

| |

NY Times Debate on Aging Professoriate

Byuclafaculty

The New York Times website today features a debate among various academics about the problem (some don’t think it is one) of professors who don’t retire. One participant calls for reinstatement of mandatory retirement. (Mandatory retirement for faculty was ended under federal law in the 1980s.) None of the participants notes that under a defined-benefit (DB) pension, such as we have at UC, there is a strong incentive to retire. Long-service employees under DB pensions lose one year of pension for each year they don’t retire. You can end up working for nothing if you stay. Universities that have defined-contribution…

Rising Bus Fares to UCLA But Free Rides at CSULB

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog pointed to rising bus fares for students, faculty, and staff at UCLA under its BruinGO! program. Not so at CSU-Long Beach where bus rides are free to students, faculty, and staff – and transit usage is up as a result. See the article below. The earlier post is at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2010/08/rising-bus-fares-to-ucla-whole-story.html Check out that earlier post for a reference to Prof. Don Shoup’s review of BruinGO! See also http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2010/08/electronic-real-time-signage-for-santa.html CSULB students will get a free ride on Long Beach buses Long Beach Press-TelegramPosted: 08/13/2010 07:06:49 PM PDTUpdated: 08/13/2010 07:10:52 PM PDT LONG BEACH – Starting…

Further Info on the UCLA Faculty Center Issue

Byuclafaculty

A few days ago, I posted information about a possible temporary (3 year!) closing of the UCLA Faculty Center while a residential learning center was constructed at its current location. Concern has been expressed about the viability of the Center during such a long closure. You can find the posting at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2010/08/no-faculty-center-for-3-years.html As further background, you may be interested in a report tracing the history of the Center from 1928 to 2004 which also includes discussion of similar faculty centers at other UC campuses. It is available at http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzVLYPK7QI_4OGQ1Y2QyZTAtYTYzOC00MTQyLWJlMDItYTAyMWI1NGYzZjRl&hl=en&authkey=CJCu55YG

|

Free to Choose to Rent or Buy Your Milton Friedman Textbook at UC-Berkeley

Byuclafaculty

An article in the Oakland Tribune reports that UC-Berkeley has a textbook rental (rather than purchase) plan to hold down student costs. Excerpt from http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_15773670 BERKELEY — UC Berkeley students may have a tough time finding a room to rent before classes start Aug. 26, but they won’t have any trouble renting another back-to-school staple: textbooks. The Cal Student Store now allows students to rent select course texts for the semester, a less-expensive option that can save students nearly half the cost of new books and offers a significant savings over even used books. Most students spend about $1,000 a…

Where Is the State Budget?

Byuclafaculty

The picture on the left is from happier times in 2006 when a state budget was being signed. But there is no evidence that we are going to see anything like that in the next few days. The Sacramento Bee today has a brief summary of Democratic vs. Republican current positions on the budget at:http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2010/08/14/23/7W15BUDGETA3.source.prod_affiliate.4.pdf Exactly where the governor is on all this is unclear. Of late, the governor has been talking about needing various reforms – not necessarily related to the immediate budget – as part of the deal. One of these is public pension reform. The governor has…

A Bit of History: UCLA Determines What Happens to You When You Drink Vodka in 1965

Byuclafaculty

The caption for this July 18, 1965 photo from the LA Times about an experiment at UCLA by a faculty member of that era reads: ONE FOR SCIENCE-Phillip Zuckerman, wired for reaction, drinks vodka and tomato juice while Dr. Richard F. Docter prepares to study reactions. Experiments are helping determine extent of drinker’s feeling of mental alertness.

| | |

What Retirees Are Being Told by UCOP About Possible Changes in Retiree Health Care and Pensions

Byuclafaculty

Judgment Day is Coming from the Post-Employment Benefits Task Force According to the “New Dimensions” Benefits Newsletter for UC Retirees, July 2010, published by UC Human Resources at UCOP. Below is the relevant article: Post-Employment Benefits Task Force to Send Recommendations to President Yudof Predictable but reduced UC contributions for retiree health premiums and changes in eligibility for retiree health benefits for many future UC retirees are among the options the Post Employment Benefits Task Force is considering sending to UC President Mark G. Yudof. After more than a year of study, discussion and wide consultation, the task force is…