News

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Note for the Regents

Byuclafaculty

Here’s a quote from Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters.  Might be something for the Regents (and our incoming UC president Janet Napolitano) to keep in mind: …Tom Hayden, the politician/journalist who protected Brown’s left flank when he was paddling his political canoe to the right three-plus decades ago, points out in a new Rolling Stone article about Brown that the governor tends to become very stubborn when he’s wrong on an issue. “He does have a problematic side,” Hayden told Rolling Stone. “He’s the kind of guy who, when he knows he’s wrong, argues harder.”… Walters’ column deals with Brown’s…

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No clear outcome from court hearing on UCLA Japanese Garden

Byuclafaculty

This seems to be the season for uncertain outcomes of court proceedings, as our prior post notes.  The Beverly Hills Courier is reporting that a hearing on Aug. 28, apparently about continuing the current injunction barring the sale of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden in Bel Air by UCLA, resulted in claims by opposing attorneys but no outcome. Blog readers will know that the garden, once the property of a former Regent – Edward Carter – was given to UCLA which at a later point said it would maintain it in perpetuity.  An associated residence on the property was occupied…

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Unclear Consequences of Ruling on VA Uses for UCLA Sports & Other Events

Byuclafaculty

There is a news report today that a court has ruled that the VA property that is almost adjacent to UCLA has been improperly used for purposes other than veterans’ health care. UCLA rents space at the VA for sports programs. Over the years, there have been uses for theaters and other events for the general public.Some commercial businesses have also rented space. Recently, there was a Shakespeare theater group at the VA in an open-air venue.  Exactly what the ruling – which is temporarily stayed for 6 months – might mean for such uses, including those by UCLA, is…

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Various UC Campuses Cleared of Anti-Semitism Charges

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed reported yesterday that UC campuses at Berkeley and Santa Cruz had been cleared of charges of allowing an anti-Semitic atmosphere due to anti-Israel student activities.  The campuses received letters from the US Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) clearing them on free speech grounds.  An article appeared later in the LA Times indicating the same conclusion was reached for UC-Irvine. The Inside Higher Ed article is at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/08/28/education-dept-rejects-charges-anti-jewish-bias-u-calif-campuses The LA Times article is at http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-uc-fed-probe-20130829,0,936811.story You can find an official letter to one of the campuses from OCR through the first link.  But the unofficial…

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50th Anniversary

Byuclafaculty

Martin Luther King at UCLA, April 27, 1965 Last Martin Luther King Day, I posted a personal remembrance of the March on Washington at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/01/missing-king.html. There was a Facebook audio link to New York City radio commentator Jean Shepherd’s report on the March, broadcast a day after the event, in that posting.  Here, for the 50th anniversary today of the March, is the same broadcast in three segments (total duration around 40 minutes) in easier-to-access YouTube links: Part 1: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeeDIbqkU0A?feature=player_detailpage] Part 2: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6x0pbjNio?feature=player_detailpage] Part 3: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1irKDIzXgGw?feature=player_detailpage]

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Charges in UCLA Chem Lab Accident Case

Byuclafaculty

A judge today denied a motion to dismiss criminal charges against a UCLA chemistry professor stemming from a laboratory fire that killed a 23-year-old research assistant. Professor Patrick Harran, 44, is charged with three counts of willful violation of an occupational safety and health standard causing the death of Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji. Prosecutors say he was responsible for training Sangji and making sure that she wore protective gear. Defense attorneys argued that their client could not be held criminally liable because he wasn’t Sangji’s employer… Judge George G. Lomeli disagreed… Full Story at http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-charges-in-death-of-ucla-lab-assistant  As has been noted in the…

AAUP takes tough line on Obama Higher Ed Proposal

Byuclafaculty

In an official statement, the AAUP has taken a tough position in criticizing the Obama proposal to condition federal aid for higher ed on performance standards: “In an attempt to rein in rising tuition and skyrocketing debt President Obama has announced a plan for performance based funding for higher education. Under his plan colleges would be rated on affordability, graduation rates and earnings of graduates. While we applaud the President for raising concerns over rising tuition and student debt, concerns that we share, we also believe that the President’s proposal will do little to solve the problem and will likely…

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Alternative Rankings

Byuclafaculty

The Washington Monthly publishes a “social” ranking of universities on the basis of affordability, access by lower-income students, “service” to the society, as well as research.  UC comes in very well in that ranking with UC-San Diego on top and Riverside is second.  Berkeley is fifth and UCLA is tenth.  The introductory article to the ranking concludes with the following statement: …State lawmakers, meanwhile, must be told that the free ride of college budget cutting is over. The U.S. Department of Education should establish new standards of state support for higher learning, and set deadlines for states that don’t meet them….

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Is the UC Pension Fund Other People’s Money?

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times today is running a story about a group that wants the UC Regents to divest their funds from “fossil fuels.”  [If you listen to the recordings of past Regents meetings on this blog, you can hear the group’s representatives speak at recent public comment sessions.]  We have a student regent-elect who has pushed in the past to divest from Israel.  When a school shooting incident occurred in Connecticut not so long ago, UC divested from gun companies.  Court decisions regarding public disclosure of info from UC investments in private equity funds have made it difficult for UC…