miscellaneous

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UC Regents Join Stanford in Lawsuit Over Patent Rights

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed reports on a lawsuit over patent rights to an invention of a Stanford medical researcher. The case is on appeal and will be heard by the US Supreme Court. The Regents of UC have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Stanford. Stanford lost at a lower level and the case is reported to be significant for patent rights more generally of US univerities. Excerpt from the report: In a ruling last October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had directed a lower court to dismiss a lawsuit Stanford had brought accusing the pharmaceutical…

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Hip-hop UC professor battles chemical company citing pesticide impact on frogs

Byuclafaculty

An interesting tale appears today in California Watch: Allies of Syngenta, a company that produces a ubiquitous but controversial herbicide, have continued attacks on UC Berkeley Professor Tyrone Hayes, a leading critic of the chemical who has fought the company through outrageous e-mails laced with rap lyrics, original rhymes and raunchy put-downs… …UC Berkeley has defended the professor’s free speech rights. Hayes is preparing to submit a new study co-authored with dozens of scientists around the world that says atrazine is a reproductive toxin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to hold more hearings on the chemical’s use. And…

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UCLA Used to Be Normal

Byuclafaculty

UCLA, when it first was created as the Southern Branch of the University of California, operated in an old state “normal” school on Vermont Avenue where LA City College is now located. If you have been in that neighborhood, you may have noted that LACC is at the corner of Vermont and Normal Street. Above is a photo of the California State Normal School. (Normal schools were teacher training institutions. A quick internet, dictionary, and encyclopedia search failed to determine why they were called “normal.”) UPDATE: The comment by Andy Sabl seems to have it right. Normal school is a…

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How Green Is My Campus?

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed points today to something called “College Sustainability Report Card 2011” which offers web “green” grades for various universities and colleges, including the UCs below. The folks behind the ratings tend to downgrade UCs for having foundations with investments that are not specifically green. The foundation trustees, I am sure, would argue that they are pursuing another type of green. Anyway, the ratings with some explanation are at the web addresses below. The folks behind the ratings are at the “Sustainable Endowments Institute.” It describes itself as follows: Founded in 2005, the Institute is a special project of…

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Credit Card Deals and the University

Byuclafaculty

An article in today’s Insider Higher Ed notes that the Federal Reserve has made available info on deals between credit card issuers and universities. Above is a table from the Fed’s report showing some information on the UC-systemwide alumni group and UCLA and their deals with credit card firms. It isn’t as legible as I would like but you can get the report including the table above at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/rptcongress/creditcard/2010/downloads/CCAP_October_web.pdf An excerpt from the article in Insider Higher Ed: Credit Card Companies Pay Millions to Colleges (excerpt) Inside Higher Ed, October 26, 2010 Credit card companies made more than $83 million…

Putting a Price on Professors

Byuclafaculty

Putting a Price on Professors: A battle in Texas over whether academic value can be measured in dollars and cents (excerpt) Wall St. Journal, 10/22/10, Stephanie Simon and Stephanie Banchero A 265-page spreadsheet, released last month by the chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, amounted to a profit-and-loss statement for each faculty member, weighing annual salary against students taught, tuition generated, and research grants obtained. Ms. Johnson came out very much in the black; in the period analyzed—fiscal year 2009—she netted the public university $279,617. Some of her colleagues weren’t nearly so profitable. Newly hired assistant professor Charles Criscione,…

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Islamic Studies at UCLA Going Out of Business?

Byuclafaculty

UCLA’s ongoing suspension of admissions to Islamic studies worries students: Admissions were frozen in 2007, pending a reorganization. But that hasn’t happened, and students fear that the program could simply be allowed to die. Raja Abdulrahim, Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2010 For two years, admissions to UCLA’s small Islamic studies program have been frozen, pending a reorganization. Now, students say they fear that the program, among the oldest in the country focused on a scholarly study of Islam, could be shut down. On Friday, several dozen students rallied to support it, gathering outside a meeting of a faculty panel…

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UCLA History: Marion Davies Children’s Clinic

Byuclafaculty

Photo dated Nov. 18, 1959 above shows actress Marion Davies who donated funds for the Marion Davies Children’s Center. Caption reads: Marion Davies, for whom new Marion Davies Children’s Clinic at UCLA Medical Center is to be named, examines architect’s sketch of new facility with Congressman Joe Holt (R-22nd Dist.), left, and UCLA Vice Chancellor William G. Young. Clinic, to be under construction by spring, was made possible by Miss Davies’ gift of $1,900,000 to Medical Center. (From LA Public Library photo collection.) Davies – William Randolph Hearst’s mistress – was not the bimbo depicted in the film “Citizen Kane.”…