miscellaneous

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Yours Truly and Others Comment on Student-Regents Communications

Byuclafaculty

The Regents are a less-staid group than they were in the 1950s when the photo on the left was taken.  (They are discussing the loyalty oath controversy of that era in the picture.) Thanks to the UC-Davis pepper spray incident, Regent Chair Lansing has been seeking alternative avenues of communication with students.In any event, the Daily Bruin asked yours truly and two others to write little op eds on such communications. You can read about it at http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2012/01/_on_the_record_

New Conflict of Interest Rules Adopted by the American Economic Assn.

Byuclafaculty

The American Economic Association – at its annual meeting in Chicago this past weekend – adopted conflict of interest disclosure guidelines for the various journals it publishes. Debate on this issue developed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and complaints that views expressed by economists might be influenced, or perceived to be influenced, by sources of support. The guidelines require authors to disclose financial support, not only for the research presented in the article, but also more generally over the prior three years. Inside Higher Ed has a brief story with links at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/01/09/economists-adopt-conflict-interest-guidelines

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UCLA History Book

Byuclafaculty

There was a nice review in yesterday’s LA Times of the new history of UCLA that recently was published. Lots of old photos are included in the book.  You can learn such things as while Berkeley may have been the main connection to the World War II Manhattan Project, UCLA handled the payroll! The book can be ordered at http://www.uclahistoryproject.ucla.edu/Book/default.asp I’d like to give you the web address of the LA Times review but the Times’ website is so clunky that all you will find if you try to locate the book review – and if you are very lucky –…

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KPCC Radio Event on Higher Ed

Byuclafaculty

A KPCC AirTalk Event: Higher Education – What Is Its Future? Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. The Crawford Family Forum 474 South Raymond Avenue Pasadena, CA 91105 Rising tuitions, student unrest, and trimmed budgets — what is the future of higher education? Join AirTalk’s Larry Mantle on Wednesday, January 11th as he hosts a distinguished panel of university heads representing California’s diverse higher education institutions. Chancellor Gene Blockassumed the chief executive officer position at UCLA in 2007 and President C.L. Max Nikias was appointed president of USC last year, but has been a part of the…

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UCLA Professor Charged in 2008 Lab Fire Death

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times: On Dec. 29, 2008, Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji, 23, was severely burned over nearly half of her body when air-sensitive chemicals burst into flames during an experiment and ignited her clothing. Sangji, who was not wearing a protective lab coat, died 18 days later.  Her death raised questions about lab safety practices at UCLA and about Sangji’s training and supervision by Professor Patrick Harran, a prominent researcher who joined the faculty in July 2008. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Harran and the UC regents with three counts each of willfully violating occupational…