News

  • Another user review of MOOCs

    Byadmin

    The NY Times today carries (yet another) review by a journalist user of MOOC courses: …When it comes to Massive Open Online Courses… you can forget about the Socratic method. The professor is, in most cases, out of students’ reach, only slightly more accessible than the pope or Thomas Pynchon. Several of my Coursera courses begin by warning students not to e-mail the professor. We are told not to “friend” the professor on Facebook. If you happen to see the professor on the street, avoid all eye contact (well, that last one is more implied than stated). There are, after all, often tens…

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    Is there something in the air there?

    Byadmin

    A giant odorous cloud billowed over UC Santa Cruz’s Porter Meadow on Saturday as a few thousand people took a bong hit or two or three during an event that’s evolved into an international holiday for marijuana smokers. Hoards of mostly college-aged men and women streamed into the grass field in a valley near College Eight throughout the day to celebrate and consume copious amounts of marijuana on April 20 — a date some call “Weed Day” that has come to symbolize a free-for-all smokefest… Full story at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_23072047/thousands-light-up-at-uc-santa-cruz-celebrate There definitely seems to be something in the air:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5oVzbwYWpg?feature=player_detailpage]  Or maybe…

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    Hold the Line: Jerry Knows Best

    Byadmin

    From today’s LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing forward with plans to shake up California’s higher education system, including strict rules on tuition and fees, according to an administration spokesman. Under the governor’s proposal, university officials would forfeit increases in state funding if they raise student costs during the next four years.  The governor originally outlined his plans in his January budget proposal. Now, as he prepares to release a revised spending plan next month, administration personnel have been briefing legislative staff and university officials on the details… Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-colleges-20130419,0,6532913.story  And we thought it was someone else…

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    The Candidate

    Byadmin

    As readers of this blog will know, UC is looking for a new president to replace Mark Yudof who is resigning in August.  What you may not know is that there is talk in university circles that the next president should be someone atypical with political skills rather than an academic. Such thinking characterizes not only the UC search but similar searches at other public universities.  An example is columnist suggestion that UC should choose Gray Davis: …(D)oesn’t this sound like a job for Gray Davis? Say what you want about California’s only recalled governor, but he knows politics and…

  • From Boston

    Byadmin

    Yours truly is in Cambridge, MA. today.  A lot of police activity here in connection with the general lockdown of the Boston area due to the bombings.  This photo is corner of Mt. Auburn and Hawthorne St.  Various police departments are circulating in the area.  The car is from the Harvard police. 

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    Out-of-state and international students rising at UCLA

    Byadmin

      The numbers are out on UC and UCLA freshman applications and admissions.  Among the findings is the fact that the proportion of non-California admits to UCLA have risen.  Two years ago, three out of ten admits were non-Californians.  A year ago, the proportion rose to four out of ten where it remains this year.  You can find these and other data at http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/fall2013adm.html [Note that admissions are not the same thing as eventual enrollments.  Note also that undergrads also enter UCLA through community college and other transfers.]  

  • Dead on Arrival (or close to arrival)

    Byadmin

    From Inside Higher Ed today:…A bill is dead to create a fourth college system in California to award credit and degrees to students but offer no courses, according to the head of the state Assembly’s higher education committee. The bill would have created the “New University of California,” which would have issued credit and degrees to anyone capable of passing certain exams. The bill received criticism and news media attention even though it had an uphill battle to become law: its sponsor is Assemblyman Scott Wilk, a rookie Republican lawmaker in a Democratic-majority legislature… Full story at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/bill-create-new-university-california-dies  It sounds…

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    Try to remember…

    Byadmin

    Only a handful of parking spaces in the UCLA lot near Wilshire are numbered.  Surely, for those that are, there must be some easier numbers available to remember.  (Like 1, 2, 3…) However, do your best:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G52JKyAqD4?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Substantial Changes in the UCLA Faculty Association

    Byadmin

    Date: April 17, 2013 To: Members of the UCLA Faculty Association From: Steven Lippman, Chair, and the UCLA Faculty Association Executive Board RE: Substantial Changes in the UCLA FA Bottom Line: Members have two choices: Remain a member of a reorganized FA or resign your membership The UCLA Faculty Association has served the faculty well since 1973. The FA has represented you to the University Administration at the campus and systemwide level and to the government of the state on a wide variety of issues. A few years ago, we had a successful meeting in Sacramento with the Legislative Analyst¹s…

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    Looking Ahead to 2014 Politics

    Byadmin

    “Your remarks give us great enlightenment, not only like a statesman, but also like a university professor.”* Shenzhen Party secretary Wang Rong to Governor Brown during recent China trip ==Political year 2014 may seem like a long way off but one GOP possible candidate has already semi-declared: Abel Maldonado, the former Lt. Governor.   It is widely assumed that Gov. Brown will run for re-election.  If for some reason he didn’t, there would be no shortage of Democratic candidates for governor including the current Lt. Governor, Gavin Newsom (who tried briefly in 2010).  So one question is what will be involved…