UC-Davis

PSA Op Ed Leads to Finding of Violation of Academic Freedom at UC-Davis

Byuclafaculty

Just when it was emerging from the pepper-spray affair, UC-Davis seems to have another controversy going, this time involving its med school.  Inside Higher Ed reports that a 2010 newspaper op ed concerning the use of PSA screening for prostate cancer by a faculty member led to retaliation against him by the school’s administration, according to a faculty investigation. The dean and executive associate dean of the school are quoted as saying, “We deeply regret that our actions in handling this particular personnel matter are perceived by some as a violation of academic freedom. Academic freedom is fundamental to the…

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Listen to Updated and Complete Audio of May 16 Regents Afternoon Session

Byuclafaculty

Our earlier post of the May 16 Regents meeting did not include the full afternoon session.  Readers of this blog may recall that the meeting was disrupted in the morning and thus created uncertainty as to when the afternoon session would resume.  The Regents cleared the room and went into closed session elsewhere.  As a result, yours truly – who was recording from the live stream – did not know when the afternoon session would begin. [And a repeat of question made several times on this blog before: If the Regents can live-stream and record their sessions, why can’t they…

Opening the Pepper

Byuclafaculty

Sacramento Bee, LA Times sue to force UC disclosure of pepper spray officer names Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 5-23-12 The Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times filed suit today against the University of California Board of Regents in a bid to force the release of police officer names that have been kept secret from the public since last November’s pepper-spray incident on the UC Davis campus.  The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, seeks a court order forcing the release of the names that were redacted from a task force study of the incident that was released in April… Full story at: http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/05/sacramento-bee-la-times-sue-to-force-uc-disclosure-of-pepper-spray-officer.html…

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Berkeley Problems Continue

Byuclafaculty

On campus Protesters who stormed UC Berkeley’s main administration building late Friday afternoon have been removed from the offices by campus police. Ten people, including two UC Berkeley students, were cited for trespassing and released at about 7:30 p.m., said UC police Capt. Margo Bennett. A group of about 25 protesters called By Any Means Necessary marched into Sproul Hall at 3:30 p.m. after a rally outside. The group, which is arguing for a greater representation of minority students in the university’s undergraduate population, included several Bay Area high school students who say they were denied admission to the school……

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Systemwide Pepper-Spray Report Released

Byuclafaculty

After the pepper-spray incident at UC-Davis, various reports were prepared.  Among them is one recently released for comment by UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC-Berkeley Law School dean Christopher Edley.  Below are some excerpts from the Robinson-Edley Report followed by a link to the full report.  Note that unlike other reports, this one is meant to be advisory to the entire UC system rather than just UC-Davis.  News accounts have noted the report’s idea of musing “mediation” to defuse conflicts.  See, for example, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2012/05/05/MN3P1ODI4S.DTL Excerpts from “Robinson-Edley Report” …We have divided our recommendations into the following nine thematic categories:…

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Wider Lessons to Be Learned (Even at UCLA!) from UC-Davis’s Pepper Spray Report

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly does a “Mitchell’s Musings” weekly blog for the Employment Policy Research Network (http://www.employmentpolicy.org/) of which he is senior academic editor.  Normally, this blog and that one don’t cover similar topics.  But in this case they do so I cross-post below. Could there be some lessons for UCLA that emerge from the UC-Davis pepper-spray incident?  Could there even be some linkage to UCLA’s proposed hotel/conference center? Might be!  Fair and balanced; you decide! ===== Mitchell’s Musings 4-30-12: The Real Pepper-Flavored Lessons of Hindsight Daniel J.B. Mitchell By now, the world has become aware of the University of California-Davis’ “pepper-spray cop,”…

Post Pepper

Byuclafaculty

In the aftermath of the official report on the pepper-spray incident at UC-Davis, the chancellor there issued a response promising a variety of reforms, etc.  Below is her statement:Chancellor: ‘We are moving swiftly’ 4.13.12 Dear UC Davis Community: The Reynoso task force report illuminated clearly and sharply the need for major reform of campus police operations and better coordination, collaboration and communication within the UC Davis administration and with the broader university community. We are moving swiftly to address these issues and any others that need attention. In fact, we began addressing several areas of need prior to the release…

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Pepper Report Released

Byuclafaculty

The long-awaited UC-Davis pepper spray report has now been released.  A link below will allow you to open the report (which also contains underlying Kroll report on the incident).  Some police officer names have been blanked out although the “pepper spray cop” is named. Basically, the report suggests an amateur lack of control and decision making of the campus police involving the police chief and chancellor (and others in the chancellor’s office). President Yudof released the statement below:Yudof statement on the release of UC Davis pepper-spray report Date: 2012-04-11 I want to thank Justice Reynoso and members of the Task…

Pepper Coming to an End?

Byuclafaculty

From the LA Times: The University of California’s investigative report into the controversial pepper-spraying of student protesters by UC Davis campus police is expected to be released publicly Wednesday — with most officers’ names removed.   After a month long legal battle delaying the release, UC and its police union reached a tentative legal settlement Monday that would allow the public disclosure of most of the report about police tactics and UC Davis administrators’ roles in the November incident. However, the agreement calls for the names and ranks of most of the UC Davis police officers to be stripped from the document……

UC-Davis Occupy protesters ordered to court

Byuclafaculty

A dozen UC Davis Occupy protesters linked to the shutdown of a U.S. Bank branch on campus were notified Friday by Yolo County district attorney’s officials to appear April 27 in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland… The conspiracy allegation carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail. Each access allegation carries a maximum six-month jail term… Full story at: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/31/4380629/uc-davis-occupy-protesters-ordered.html [Photo shows Yolo County courthouse]