UC Berkeley

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Will He Sign It?

Byuclafaculty

State lawmakers have approved first-in-the-nation legislation requiring California universities with the most high-profile sports programs to provide financial protections for student athletes who suffer career-ending injuries…SB1525 would apply to universities that receive more than $10 million annually in sports media revenue. The bill by Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from Los Angeles, would apply this year to the University of Southern California, UCLA, Berkeley and Stanford University…Full article at http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/22/4749123/bill-would-help-injured-student.html

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UC-Berkeley Joins Harvard-MIT Online Course Program

Byuclafaculty

Inside Higher Ed pointed me to a story about UC-Berkeley’s online endeavors.  A press release related to the story is below.  Below that is a link to the Inside Higher Ed article: UC BERKELEY JOINS HARVARD AND MIT NOT-FOR-PROFIT ONLINE LEARNING COLLABORATIVE; EDX BROADENS FREE COURSE OFFERINGS INTO PUBLIC HEALTH, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SOLID-STATE CHEMISTRY; OPENS REGISTRATION (excerpts) EdX, the online learning initiative founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and launched in May, announced today the addition of the University of California, Berkeley to its platform. UC Berkeley, ranked No. 1 among public universities in…

They’re back! The Return of the Banned Berkeley Farmers

Byuclafaculty

Remember the unwanted “farmers” who took over an agricultural research tract owned by UC-Berkeley – and were eventually evicted? You might have thought they issue was – well – dead, but they’re back.  From the Daily Cal: Members of Occupy the Farm broke into UC-owned research land in Albany Saturday morning in order to weed and harvest crops they planted during their three-week occupation of the land that ended in May.  The approximately 50 activists on hand at the land known as the Gill Tract were spurred to action by a scheduled harvest by the city of Albany to which…

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UCLA Drops Opposition to Athletes’ Bill of Rights After Amendments

Byuclafaculty

After amendment, UCLA has dropped its opposition to a bill pending in the legislature containing a “bill of rights” for student athletes.  UC-Berkeley and USC have also dropped opposition.  Stanford is still opposed. …Sen. Alex Padilla, of Los Angeles, agreed to amend Senate Bill 1525 amid opposition from Stanford, UC-Berkeley, UCLA and the University of Southern California.  This bill now requires the four schools to continue scholarships for injured athletes and athletes who have exhausted their athletic eligibility, but have not finished their degree. The schools would also have to pay for health insurance for low-income individuals and tell a student athlete within seven days whether…

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Camera Shy But Responsible and Effective

Byuclafaculty

The University of California has settled a lawsuit filed by a photojournalist who was arrested as he covered a 2009 UC Berkeley protest. UC paid independent journalist David Morse and his attorneys $162,500 last week, Morse’s lawyers said Monday, and agreed to train police its officers better on how to deal with journalists. Morse was arrested and his camera was confiscated as he covered a Dec. 11, 2009, march to the campus home of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Police detained Morse after some demonstrators vandalized the house…  Although UC agreed to train its officers, the university admitted no wrongdoing, UC…

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A Different Bill of Rights Pending in the Legislature

Byuclafaculty

From the Sacramento Bee: Four California universities with big-time sports programs are fighting a legislative effort that could radically change the way schools recruit, educate and retain student athletes. The schools are opposing the “Student Athlete Bill of Rights,” they say, because it would be too expensive, put their programs at a competitive disadvantage and may go against NCAA rules. Senate Bill 1525, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would require schools earning more than $10 million a year in media revenue from athletic programs to continue an athlete’s scholarship if he or she is no longer able to participate in…

Report on Berkeley Protests Issued

Byuclafaculty

Back in November, UC-Berkeley had its own version of the Davis pepper-spray affair but the Berkeley version received less attention due to the widespread Internet pictures and videos from Davis.  Berkeley has now issued a report on its incident.  Below is the media release from the campus with links to the report and related documents. The photo at the left was part of the media release. Police board calls for tighter oversight on use of force in student protests By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley | June 6, 2012 A review of clashes between Occupy Cal protesters and police on Nov. 9, 2011, says…

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UC-Berkeley Chancellor Protests Proposed Constitutional Amendment Pending in Legislature Capping Out-of-State Enrollment

Byuclafaculty

(Any thoughts from UCLA about this issue?) Media Release from UC-Berkeley Below: Chancellor expresses concerns about proposed constitutional amendment Public Affairs, UC-Berkeley, May 24, 2012 A message from Chancellor Birgeneau On May 16, California state Sen. Michael Rubio introduced a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that would restrict the enrollment of out-of-state and international students on University of California campuses to 10 percent of undergraduate enrollment. If cleared for the ballot by both houses of the Legislature and passed by voters this November, Senate Constitutional Amendment 22 would take effect in the fall of 2013. Its provisions would mandate…

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Former Chancellor Young Calls for Consideration of Birgeneau Campus Autonomy Proposal

Byuclafaculty

In an email to an organization of former UC chancellors and other officials, former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young calls for serious consideration of the Birgeneau proposals for greater campus autonomy within the UC system by UCOP and the Regents.  In a blog post yesterday, the paper by UC-Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau et al calling for such autonomy was reproduced along with a (negative) response to the paper by President Yudof. Among other changes, the paper proposed campus-level Boards of Trustees.  See:http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/05/we-know-view-from-berkeley-from-ucla.html The Young email also refers to long-term funding problems from the state he foresees and suggests that greater reliance on…

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We know the view from Berkeley. From UCLA?

Byuclafaculty

About a month ago, UC-Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau and co-authors issued a report calling for more autonomy for the UC campuses.  Here is the abstract: The University of California (UC) needs to respond to the fundamental and ongoing changes that are occurring around it if it is to remain financially sustainable, accessible, and academically excellent. As the campuses that make up UC have matured in the past 50 years they have, rightly, developed unique strengths and challenges. The uniqueness of individual campuses has been a natural response to the increasing complexity of our world and the highly competitive nature of higher education. These differences have…