News

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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…

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    Indirect Flattery for UCRP from CalPERS

    Byadmin

    According to a Bloomberg report, CalPERS’ chief actuary is recommending that his fund follow the practice that is currently in place (assuming the Regents continue it) for the UC pension fund.  At present, CalPERS follows a fifteen year smoothing period, extremely long, and doesn’t get to 100% funding in thirty years.  UC has five years smoothing and a plan for 100% over 30 years. …Alan Milligan, (CalPERS’)… chief actuary, recommends that the biggest U.S. pension stop spreading out losses and gains over 15 years and instead set rates based on how much is needed to reach 100 percent funding within…

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    Things to Come?

    Byadmin

    Just a note to whoever is in charge that we are waiting to see the results of the campus climate survey taken last winter.  The survey was sponsored by UCOP in response to Regental concerns relating to certain campus-level incidents.  Results are supposed to be available “sometime in spring 2013” according to http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/28359.  At the time the survey was under consideration, the UCLA faculty welfare committee raised some concerns about response rates and response bias so we will assume those issues will be addressed in the report on the survey results. The rumored cost of the survey informally conveyed to…

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    Nobody here

    Byadmin

    The LA Times today carries an article about the search for a new UC president to replace Mark Yudof who is resigning in August. It’s a slam on the current crop of UC campus chancellors and UCOP administrators since apparently the Regents think they have no feasible inside candidates. …The search is secretive; officials say the selection process is a confidential personnel matter. Leading the effort is a committee of 10 UC regents, including Gov. Jerry Brown and student and alumni representatives. Its members declined to comment and so did the executive search firm—Isaacson, Miller. Matthew Haney, executive director of…

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    Sunset closing this coming weekend

    Byadmin

    From the Westwood-Century City Patch: The Sunset Boulevard on-ramp to the northbound I-405 will be closed 38 straight hours on Friday. The closure begins at 8 p.m. Friday and runs to 10 p.m. Sunday. Construction crews are closing the on-ramp while they remove an Exxon-Mobil pipeline. To get around the work, drivers can detour taking Sunset Boulevard to the northbound Church Lane, to northbound Sepulveda, and to the Moraga Drive northbound I-405 on-ramp… Full article at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/38-hour-closure So take the detour:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6zYm_XTGw?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Phishing Warning for Gmail Users

    Byadmin

    In the past, I have confined email fraud warnings to those specifically targeting UCLA email system users.  However, many faculty either have supplementary gmail accounts or forward their UCLA mail to a gmail account.  If you have gmail, you may get a message that looks like the image above and appears to come from someone you know with a gmail account.  It may refer to a service called Infoaxe or Flipora or something else.  Do not click on it or forward it to anyone else.  If you do click on it, it will steal all your email contacts and send…

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    Chained-CPI

    Byadmin

    Chained Houdini You have probably heard or read about the “chained-CPI” (CPI = Consumer Price Index) proposal for Social Security contained in President Obama’s latest budget plan.  Chained-CPI is supposed to take account of the “substitution effect,” i.e., the tendency of consumers to shift their purchasing habits away from goods that rise relative to others in price.  The official CPI which is now used for indexing Social Security and other federal programs – and is also used for the partial inflation adjustment in the UC pension – is often described as pricing a fixed basket of goods.  In actuality, the…

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    California Oil Tax?

    Byadmin

    Signal Hill Oil Field, probably 1940s There is currently an initiative for which in theory signatures are being gathered that would gasoline and other fuel to fund a cap on tuition.  I could go into the details but this is one of the many initiatives that are filed without any funding to pay signature gatherers or run a campaign.  It will go nowhere.  Signatures are actually due tomorrow.  There is a link to it below for those who are curious. However, the same wealthy individual who successfully pushed through Prop 39 last year is now pushing the legislature to use…

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    Could Hammer Fill Westwood’s Empty Stores?

    Byadmin

    UCLA’s Hammer Museum is proposing to put various art projects in vacant Westwood stores.  According to the Museum, local landlords have agreed to the idea at free or minimal rents.  The Museum is asking the public to “vote” for the concept – Arts ReSTORE LA: Westwood – on a website that might draw financial support from a private foundation. The website and proposal is at: http://myla2050.maker.good.is/projects/Hammer_Museum?sort=290 A video on the project can be see below:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30f36j_o_wU?feature=player_detailpage] A Daily Bruin article about this proposal is at:http://dailybruin.com/2013/04/12/hammer-museum-with-the-help-of-artists-community-hope-to-restore-westwood/

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    Completed

    Byadmin

    According to the Westwood-Century City Patch, the tree removals and sidewalk repairs on various Westwood streets around UCLA are now completed:http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/sections-of-damaged-sidewalk-repaired-in-westwood-village-photos#photo-13976670 It’s not clear from the article whether the replacement trees have been planted.