News

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Directional Issues

Byuclafaculty

Good advice from Horace because of you’re traveling east on Wilshire and want to go north on the 405, you are soon to have problem.  And others will likely have a problem as those who want to go north shift to the Sunset Blvd. on ramp – or just get confused. See below:The eastbound Wilshire Boulevard on-ramp to northbound 405 Freeway will close for 90 days starting Thursday, Aug 22. Once rebuilt, the on-ramp will have nearly 300 percent greater capacity. It is the last extended ramp closure that will be required for the Wilshire Interchange, as well as the…

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UCLA History and Current “Intentions” for UC

Byuclafaculty

We have been running some scanned photos from “California of the Southland,” a book published by the UCLA alumni in 1937.  Here we seen registration in 1936.  If you read the caption, you will note that women made up a slightly larger percent of enrollment back then. Let’s move to enrollment nowadays.  When the legislature passes a budget, it includes various statements of “intent” about how money should be used.  UC’s budget – despite constitutional autonomy – does not escape from such quasi-directives.  Technically, UC might not use money as directed, but not doing so could affect next year’s allocation,…

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More 405 Night Time Stay Away Periods

Byuclafaculty

More difficulties coming for those who spend late hours at UCLA and use the 405 freeway: The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements contractor will continue removing falsework on the Mulholland Bridge in the Sepulveda Pass on Saturday nights over the next two weekends. Metro says this will require full directional freeway closures from Valley Vista Drive to Skirball Center Drive between the hours of 11 p.m. until 9 a.m.  Saturday, Aug. 17: Full southbound freeway closure, from Valley Vista to Skirball, from 11 p.m. until 9 a.m. Northbound #1,2,3 lanes will be closed as a buffer. Closures start at 11 p.m….

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Groundbreaking Notes

Byuclafaculty

Yesterday, we noted that the groundbreaking for UCLA’s Grand Hotel would be on September 10.  We have also noted that after blocking off the Ackerman bus turnaround and parking structure #6 on July 8, nothing much seems to have happened in the way of actual work on the site.Lest you think no one has been inconvenienced by the no-work blocking off, comes this from the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus on its off-hour service:New transit hub: Ackerman Terminal is closed for construction so BBB will use a new transit hub located on Charles E. Young Dr. and Manning Ave. Weekdays…

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Waiting for Sept. 10 and the Grand Hotel

Byuclafaculty

We have been posting pictures of working not being done at the (former) Ackerman bus turnaround and parking structure #6 since the area was closed off on July 8.  Yesterday was no exception as the photos below show.  No workers could be seen.  But the riddle of no-work can now be partly explained.  We are waiting for a grand groundbreaking for the Grand Hotel on Sept. 10, as indicated on the invitation towards the bottom. (Scroll down): A clearer version of the invitation can be viewed at the link below: Exactly why the bus turnaround and parking structure had to…

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Where Time Doesn’t Stand Still

Byuclafaculty

Below are photos of four separate clocks in hallways on the same floor of a building on the north end of campus.  The photos were all taken within two minutes of each other.  None of the clocks show anywhere near the same time.  I won’t identify the building but perhaps someone with a knowledge of theoretical physics can explain the time discrepancy.  Didn’t Einstein say something about this phenomenon?  Well, maybe Einstein can’t help – according to the lyrics, anyway: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwsKyMPyhw?feature=player_detailpage]Could we average the four clocks on the theory that no clock can be off by more than 12…

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Tilt!

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed today runs a lengthy piece on a journal article concerning responses of whites to UC admissions criteria.  Specifically, whites in California are less likely to favor objective measures such as test scores for admission – criteria seemingly free of bias and identified as meritocratic – when it is pointed out that Asians do particularly well on such criteria.  Whites “primed” with the Asian performance results then tilt toward using fuzzier concepts such as “leadership” as criteria for admissions. You can find the piece at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/13/white-definitions-merit-and-admissions-change-when-they-think-about-asian-americans. The underlying journal article is at http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670664. Which only goes to show:

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State Came Up Short This Month

Byuclafaculty

The state controller’s statement for July, the first month of the 2013-14 fiscal year, reports that revenues were roughly $300 million below estimates in the state budget.  Most of that gap was due to personal income tax net receipts.  As blog readers will know, there is a lot of volatility and uncertainty involved in income tax receipts.  A windfall came in around New Years which may have had to do with people taking capital gains or otherwise advancing income into the prior tax year trying to anticipate “fiscal cliff” developments.  So it may be that there will be less income…