News

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    Listen to Radio Interview with President Yudof on UC Future

    Byadmin

    Yesterday, KPCC’s Airtalk with Larry Mantle featured an interview with the heads of the three segments of higher ed in California: President Mark Yudof of UC, Chancellor Timothy White of CSU (and until recently Chancellor of UC-Riverside), and Brice Harris, Chancellor of the community colleges. The full broadcast ran about three quarters of an hour.  I have pulled out just the Yudof excerpts which run about one third as long. As blog readers will know, Yudof has resigned as UC president, effective August.  So he may now be a bit freer to say what he wants – but, of course,…

  • Concerns about Justice Dept. intervention in university library electronic reserves

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today has an article concerning a matter on which we have posted in the past.  Increasingly, faculty put material on reserve for students.  Typically, such material is not available to the general public; some kind of password or course registration is required.  Publishers have sued regarding copyright violation in a case involving Georgia State U.  So far, the library there has prevailed. Apparently, the U.S. Dept. of Justice wants to intervene in the case, and the suspicion is that the intervention will be on the side of the publishers who are appealing a lower court ruling.  You…

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    Rebenching: If you equalize, UCLA gets less than otherwise

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today has a long piece on UC’s “rebenching” approach which would change the formula by which UC funding is allocated to the various campuses.  As the article notes, some of the disparate funding that tends to favor older campuses such as UCLA is due to the graduate/undergraduate mix.  But even if you adjust for that effect, the older campuses get more.  That fact means that if you equalize, in the end the older campuses will get less than otherwise.  You can phase it in.  But the logic is unavoidable.  Phasing it in just means that the older…

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    Self-esteem of the electorate: Potential tool for UC?

    Byadmin

    Self esteem California has been famous (infamous?) for its self-esteem movement.  And it is also famous for the popular love of direct democracy. A PPIC poll recently released is in the headline for showing an uptick in popular and voter approval of the governor, the legislature, etc.  But when asked who should make key long-term decisions, the popular response by about three fourths of those polled is that it should be left to voters, not the legislature or the governor. I suspect that there is some opportunity here for UC if we continue to get gubernatorial mucking around at the…

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    Issue of UC Health Cap for Students Heats Up

    Byadmin

    We noted in a prior post this past weekend that there is a cap on the dollar payouts for student health insurance at UC.  Major illnesses can cause students to hit the cap. Below is an excerpt from a San Francisco Chronicle article that seems to imply – but doesn’t quite say – that UC chose self-funding of the student health plan to avoid a ban on such caps in the Obama health plan:  Health care limits like the one imposed by UC are already illegal under the sweeping federal health-care law – dubbed Obamacare – that takes full effect…

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    No Rush Online at Yale

    Byadmin

    Inside Higher Ed today carries a report that Yale is taking a gradual approach to online education and not rushing into MOOC delivery.  Excerpt: News of universities partnering with massive open online course providers has become commonplace, which is why Yale University stands out for what it’s not doing: rushing. While many top universities — including Harvard and Stanford Universities, along with many others — were announcing partnerships and launching their first MOOCs, Yale sat back, watched, and evaluated… Watching and waiting — and strategizing — can be a difficult choice to make given the “herd mentality” that has developed around MOOCS,…

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    Return of the Local Deli

    Byadmin

    Several weeks ago, we noted that Junior’s Deli on Westwood (north of Pico) was closing what was probably the closest deli to UCLA.  It appears that another deli, Lenny’s, will open in that location, according to the Westwood-Century City Patch:http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/lenny-s-deli-to-replace-junior-s-deli-in-westwood Lenny’s operated in Pacific Palisades but closed recently.  It isn’t yet open in the new location but it has a website with pictures of healthy foods as above:http://www.lensdeli.com/ But don’t overeat:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXH_12QWWg8?feature=player_detailpage]

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    Will Help Be On the Way?

    Byadmin

    From today’s LA Times: After he retires as chancellor of UC Berkeley in June, Robert J. Birgeneau will head up a national effort to study and help public universities in an era of reduced tax support, new technology and changing student demographics. Birgeneau, a physicist, is to lead the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ new initiative that will propose ways for the federal government, private industry and foundations to better aid state institutions, along with developing reforms the schools could undertake. It is being called “The Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education” — named for President…

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    Burning Sofas: A Lesson for the Governor on UC

    Byadmin

    A column in today’s Sacramento Bee tells a tale about sofas with lessons for the governor.   Here is an excerpt: Gov. Jerry Brown is about to repent for a sin he didn’t know he committed in 1975. Ten months after Brown took office the first time, his administration produced a little-noticed regulation requiring that furniture sold in California comply with the strictest fire safety standard in the nation. Befitting its turgid language, the regulation came to be known as Technical Bulletin 117. Although it was supposed to save lives, another story has emerged in the intervening decades. Technical Bulletin…

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    UC Student Medical Insurance Limits

    Byadmin

    From the Contra Costa Times: UC Santa Cruz graduate student Micha Rahder suffers from a rare disorder that requires her to be hooked up to an IV over two days, five to eight hours at a time, every four weeks… In November, she got a letter from the university saying she had used $378,000 of the $400,000 lifetime limit for students on the University of California student health insurance plan (also known as UC SHIP), Radner said. In early January, a little more three years after her first treatment, she received another letter. “It comes from the Office of the…