miscellaneous

Are We About to Burst With Pride?

Byuclafaculty

Dean Judy Olian of the Anderson School circulated links to two articles (really three when you follow the links) on the thesis that the next bubble is higher ed. A sample: ..Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe. The excesses of both were always excused by a core national belief that no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you…

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Careless Words: An Internet Reminder

Byuclafaculty

In yet another lesson in being-careful-about-what-you-say-on-the-Internet, UCLA Law School Prof. Stephen Bainbridge’s blog complaint about service he didn’t get from FedEx produced the following from the Daily Bruin last Friday: UCLA law students are reacting with frustration to the law school dean’s response to a professor’s xenophobic blog posts, according to a student law organization. The post, made by Stephen Bainbridge, professor of corporate law, began with complaints about FedEx Express Office online services. Bainbridge described the customer service representative he spoke with as a “moron with an impenetrable accent,” and asked, “What third world shithole do they have him…

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Follow Up

Byuclafaculty

The dismissal (or is it nonrenewal of funding?) of a researcher at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has periodically made the news, particularly on the right, over the past year or so. His website at UCLA no longer operates but the Google-cache function produces the past page with the following description: Since 1974 Dr. James Enstrom has conducted research on the epidemiology of cancer, particularly examining the health practices and cancer risk in several well-defined populations within California and the United States. His significant findings relevant to cancer include: identification of unusually low-risk populations, like health-conscious Mormons; measurement of an…

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Is There Any Construction Work Needed Apart from a Hotel/Conference Center?

Byuclafaculty

A year ago, California Watch published a listing of buildings in the UC system with poor or very poor seismic ratings. Below is a subset from that listing of just the UCLA buildings. Scroll below the list for a link to information on each building. If someone at UCLA is looking for construction work to undertake, apart from a new hotel/conference center, here is a possible list: UCLA: Center for Health Sciences – Jules Stein Eye Institute UCLA: Center for Health Sciences – Marion Davies Children’s Center UCLA: Center for Health Sciences – Neuropsychiatric Institute (low-rise) UCLA: Center for Health…

Court Rules for Free Speech Rights of Faculty at Public Universities

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post on this blog noted the controversy over demands for a faculty member’s emails at the University of Wisconsin. Insider Higher Ed today features a story on a court ruling protecting free speech rights of faculty at public universities. An interesting side note is that earlier court rulings that seemed to limit such speech rights stemmed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision related to a situation at the LA District Attorney’s office. Excerpt: Free to Speak Out April 7, 2011, Scott Jaschik. Inside Higher Ed A controversial professor suing his university in North Carolina won a key ruling…

Student Interns: Must They Be Paid?

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly is involved in a conversation on another website in which the following question arose. It has been increasingly common for college students to undertake unpaid internships with private organizations (including businesses) for course credit. In fact, to they have to be paid? Can someone decide to work for free despite the existence of minimum wage and overtime laws? As it turns out, the answer seems to be that such activities have to be paid – at least the minimum wage – except under a narrow set of circumstances. Below are the guidelines from the U.S. Department of Labor,…