News

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We got a boost. Now we need some answers.

Byuclafaculty

I’ve got the booster.  But what’s for dinner? We noted in past postings that new UC president Janet Napolitano was to give an important address yesterday about her vision of UC.  The address happened.  But her remarks were mainly boosterism.  (So far, UCOP hasn’t put the transcript of the remarks on the web, but yours truly has seen them.)  Greatest public university,  The California dream.  Nobel prize.  Diversity.  The Master Plan.  Etc.  And, yes, there was reference in the speech to DREAM students – that’s what seems to have been the focus of morning news stories.  She said she would…

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UC Brand: Language Lessons to Come?

Byuclafaculty

Here is an oddity.  On the UCOP website, there is a webpage on the “UC Brand.”  You can find it athttp://brand.universityofcalifornia.edu/index.html.  The text is below: The University of Transformation Pioneering. Curious. Vibrant. Thoughtful. Even beautiful. The University of California is located wherever a UC mind is at work. At any given moment, people in the UC community are exploring, creating and advancing our shared experience of life in California and beyond. These guidelines ensure we express these shared values with every communication. In short, this site helps us all “Speak UC.” But as of 6 pm today on that webpage, there…

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Privatized Strawberries at Davis

Byuclafaculty

Please pay as you enter Strawberry growers are literally being cheated out of the fruits of their labors by the University of California, according to a lawsuit filed against the Board of Regents by the California Strawberry Commission. UC Davis is ending its strawberry breeding program and replacing it with a private company created by its two long-time strawberry researchers. The two plan to sell strawberry varieties, including those they developed over the past 30 years at UC Davis backed by annual payments of $350,000 by the strawberry commission. Filed in Alameda County Superior Court, the commission’s eight-page lawsuit wants to…

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Davis and Merced Get Drones, But We Have Snodgrass

Byuclafaculty

The website California’s Capitol reports that UC-Davis and UC-Merced have applied to the FAA to have drones. http://www.californiascapitol.com/2013/10/californias-drone-applicants/ and https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/faa_coa_list-2012.pdf. Obviously, the rest of us will be falling behind in this technology.  But at least we have Prof. Snodgrass who drones on and on, as former UC president Yudof once reminded us in his soliloquy on online higher ed:

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More late night 405 troubles near UCLA

Byuclafaculty

The on- and off-ramps between southbound I-405 and Sunset Boulevard will be closed to all traffic from 9 pm until 5 am nightly from tonight (October 29) until the morning of Saturday, November 2nd. Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards should be open as alternatives. Good luck getting home:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC4NmZSlDeY?feature=player_detailpage]

Just saying no

Byuclafaculty

Dirks agrees From the Washington Post: …What brought [UC-Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks] to Washington, among other business, was a meeting with top U.S. Education Department officials to discuss President Obama’s plan for the federal government to rate colleges on value by the start of the 2015-16 school year. Obama announced the plan in August, part of what was billed as an effort to increase college affordability. The rating system is still under design. Obama proposed that ratings should be based on measures such as the percentage of students receiving Pell grants; the average tuition, scholarships, and loan debt at a…

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Looks like the Regents Will Have to Continue to Grin and Bear It

Byuclafaculty

…The Democratic governor said of his own time in office, “I’m working pretty darn hard, and yet I can’t spend a lot of time on getting into the intricacies of government. So that, over the next year, that’s something that interests me, to try to understand … to get a real world feel of what’s under my responsibility, and I don’t think many governors have ever done that.” Brown said doing so will allow him to “think and imagine and come up with things.” Full article at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/10/jerry-brown-seeking-real-world-feel-of-government.html

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LA Conservancy Picks Up Story of UCLA Japanese Garden

Byuclafaculty

The Los Angeles Conservancy includes a story in its November-December 2013 newsletter on the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden UCLA has been blocked from selling through litigation.  We continue to suggest that UCLA work with conservation groups and the family to find a solution that will preserve the garden.  Litigation is costly for the university and its purpose should not be simply to gratify someone’s ego in Murphy Hall.  How about a focus that is less on “winning” and more on achieving the dual goals of garden preservation and revenue for UCLA? You can read the LA Conservancy’s story at:

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UCLA History: Where’s the bridge?

Byuclafaculty

The roadway that connects the plaza between Dodd and Murphy to the one between Royce and Powell carries the sign above referring to a bridge.  Many in the UCLA community know the history but for those who don’t, the seeming roadway is in fact a bridge over a ravine that was long ago filled with dirt.  When the Westwood campus was being constructed, however, the ravine was a prominent feature and the bridge was one of the early structures built as the photo below shows. When the campus opened in 1929, crossing the bridge was a common occurrence as show…