News

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The Arrival

Byuclafaculty

Today, the news media seem to be focused on the first day of school.  No, not the students’ first day.  Janet Napolitano’s. From the LA Times: Janet Napolitano begins her new job as University of California president Monday, promising to “listen and learn” about the many issues facing the sprawling 10-campus university system… During her first couple of weeks, she will review budgets and operations and meet with students, faculty, staff, campus chancellors, state elected officials and others, according to UC spokesman Steve Montiel. She will greet the headquarters staff at a reception Monday afternoon. Napolitano has stressed that “her…

California, Here We Come

Byuclafaculty

Each fall orientation, yours truly does an introduction to California for incoming MPP students at the Luskin School of Public Affairs.  Even California natives or long-time residents may learn something.  It’s in 3 parts below.  Warning: About an hour and a half for the full treatment.  Each part runs about half an hour. Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: The state song referred to in Part 1 is at:

Dumb da Dumb Dumb, Italian Style

Byuclafaculty

It may be small comfort for the scientifically minded among our blog readers to know that the U.S. is not the only country where science is optional. Italy seems to be strong in that department. From the LA Times: On April 6, 2009, a 6.3 earthquake struck the Italian city of L’Aquila. The quake damaged thousands of medieval-era buildings and killed 309 people. Those deaths prompted Italian prosecutors to charge six seismologists and a government official with manslaughter on the grounds that they gave “inexact, incomplete and contradictory information” about the mortal risks a quake in the area would pose….

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Rolling Out the Welcome Wagon for Janet

Byuclafaculty

From the Daily Bruin: The [UCLA] undergraduate student government plans to vote at its Tuesday meeting on whether it should express no confidence in Janet Napolitano’s current ability to serve University of California students as UC president. A resolution about Napolitano, which was drafted by multiple members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, calls for the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and Arizona governor to comply with a list of demands compiled by undocumented students across the UC campuses. According to the resolution, students demand that Napolitano hold town halls and meet with undocumented students when she…

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Just Four Years? How about Eight?

Byuclafaculty

Everyone wants more years! From Inside Higher Ed today comes this story about changing the Master Plan: Community colleges in a growing number of states are offering bachelor’s degrees. Now California and its huge two-year system may join that group. A committee created by Brice Harris, the system’s chancellor, quietly began meeting last month to mull whether the state’s 112 community colleges should be granted the authority to offer four-year degrees… Full story at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/27/two-year-colleges-california-mull-bachelors-degrees Four? Eight? Just more: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RosYCAUN2TA?feature=player_detailpage]

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Reminder: Donors to UCLA Can Do Lasting Good Without Involving a Bulldozer

Byuclafaculty

Today seems to be the day for reminders, as in our previous post.  However, the note below – combined with the tendency to divert campus donor money (and donors) into bricks and mortar – reminds us there are alternatives: Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker, who are among the heirs to the Hyatt hotel fortune, donated $3 million to UCLA to establish an endowment for students who are or were in foster care, the university announced today. The endowment will provide funding for tutoring, mental health services, summer housing and other expenses, according to the university… Full story at http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/schools/p/couple-donates-3m-support-ucla-foster-care-students Yours truly…

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Reminder that Your Emails Aren’t Private

Byuclafaculty

The Daily Bruin carries a story today about a demand for a UCLA professors emails. Excerpt: Two state senators have accused UCLA of withholding the records of a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences from the public, the most recent development in a conflict that has lasted about three years.  The two California senators – Minority Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) and Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) – started corresponding with UCLA about Professor John Froines’s public records earlier this year, when they noticed UCLA had not disclosed all of Froines’s emails in a past records request.Controversy over the records…

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Possible Pension Initiative Which Would Include UC

Byuclafaculty

In a move to slash the retirement benefits of public employees in California, a group of mostly conservative policy advocates has been working behind the scenes on a possible 2014 ballot initiative. A copy of the still-secret draft initiative, which could dramatically impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of Californians and send a signal nationwide, has been obtained by Frying Pan News. If enacted, the proposed law would allow the state and local governments to cut back retirement benefits for current employees for the years of work they perform after the changes go into effect. Previous efforts to curb…

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Everett: Where are you?

Byuclafaculty

Everett Dirksen was the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate back in the day who is often quoted as saying (about the federal budget), “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you are talking about real money.”  [I know; nobody can actually point to a source for where he supposedly said it.] We noted in a post yesterday about a plan for a $50 million football facility.  Today’s Daily Bruin has a story about the groundbreaking for a new $120 million medical center teaching building about which the Regents raised some questions but eventually rubber stamped, as they…