UCLA

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Is it unanimous? Are all the Regents in favor of saving the Japanese Garden?

Byuclafaculty

There is an online petition opposing UCLA’s ongoing effort to sell the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.  As you can see from the three screenshots below, the Regents seem to have signed on! Well, to be fair, they did seem to want to “test” the idea first before signing on.  Anyway, I am sure the petition sponsors will count them all in: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsdtjdvt1ko&w=320&h=195] PS: What most likely happened was that someone in the Regents office wanted to track what was happening on the Garden issue and thought, incorrectly, that you had to sign the petition to get the information.

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Update: Anderson MBA Self Sufficiency Proposal Passes Legislative Assembly

Byuclafaculty

An earlier post today noted the interest of the LA Times in the Legislative Assembly’s vote on whether to override the Graduate Council’s decision rejecting the proposed MBA self sufficiency funding model.Probably, the vote will be reported in the LA Times and the Bruin tomorrow.  But below is a message from the Anderson School dean announcing that the Legislative Assembly did override the Graduate Council 53-46: To the UCLA Anderson community: Today, the Legislative Assembly of the UCLA Academic Senate approved our proposal to convert the UCLA Anderson School of Management Full Time MBA program from state-supported to self-supporting. The vote…

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Headline News?

Byuclafaculty

Meetings of the Legislative Assembly of the UCLA Academic Senate rarely get such front-page attention.  (Well, the front page of the LATEXTRA section, anyway.)  It shows there is public interest in the trend toward privatization at UC more generally, although we insist on euphemisms such as self sufficiency.  The last time I posted anything about this matter, there were grumbles from readers.  So you can just read the LA Times story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla-20120607,0,6289989.story At least we made the headlines:

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C is for Reagan? Really? Info is Being Sought

Byuclafaculty

The LA Times business section is carrying a story about a website sponsored by employers that provide health insurance which rates hospitals on safety.  The article indicates that the California Hospital Association endorses release of the ratings. It is reported in the article that UCLA-Reagan is rated only C, although UCLA-Santa Monica is rated A.  At one point in the article, it seems to say that the grade for Reagan was below C. {Note: See below for update and clarification.} When I went on the website listed in the article, however, although Santa Monica is indeed given an A, the…

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Costless and Nice? Listen to the audio of the environmental hearing on the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center

Byuclafaculty

A hearing on the draft environmental impact report on the proposed UCLA hotel-conference center took place at the Faculty Center on June 5, 2012.  You can find link to the audio (1 hour and 38 minutes) below.  A total of 17 individuals spoke, either pro or con, at the meeting. A certain amount of orchestration of the testimony was apparent.  Originally, a 3-minute limit was suggested but it was dropped soon after the comments began.  The portable public address system was defective so that in some cases, the amplification went on and off.  However, all remarks should be audible at…

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Today, Transit of Venus; Tomorrow, No Transit of Obama

Byuclafaculty

Venus will cross its midpoint on the sun’s disc around 6:25 p.m. PDT. In the continental United States, the show will end at sunset, but Venus will continue to be visible on the sun’s disc until roughly 10 p.m. PDT westward. That means places like Alaska, Hawaii, Asia, Australia, eastern Africa and all but the western edge of Europe will get to see the planet exit the sun’s disc… Full story at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/transit-of-venus-2012-where-is-the-best-place-to-view-transit-of-venus-.html President Barack Obama will make another fundraising swing to Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, and traffic can be expected to be affected in Beverly Hills, Westwood and possibly…

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Dodd

Byuclafaculty

Many blog readers will know that Murphy Hall is named after former UCLA Chancellor Franklin Murphy. But what about Dodd Hall which is across the street from Murphy Hall? Dodd Hall is named after Paul A. Dodd (1902-1992), an economist who joined the UCLA faculty in 1928, i.e., just before the move to Westwood.  Dodd was known for early research on health insurance and health costs in California.  He was the first director of the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations (now the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment).  Later, he was dean of the College. Dodd left UCLA to…

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The Best Laid Plans

Byuclafaculty

Hmmm.  A proposed course on Community and Conflict in the Modern World has been rejected. (See below.) Maybe this now-defunct course could have usefully reviewed the pending proposal for a UCLA hotel/conference center!  Certainly, there has been conflict over thatproposal in various communities.  And there will be more to come at the Tuesday, June 5, 7 pm hearing on the proposed hotel project at the Faculty Center. From UCLA Today, June 1, 2012: Faculty in the College of Letters and Science have voted downa proposal to require all undergraduates to enroll in a general education course in a new sub-category called Community…

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Moguls

Byuclafaculty

The historically minded might have looked at the headline above in the LA Times today and thought it had to do with increased admissions of international students: http://www.asianartmall.com/mogulempire.htmBut no, it was a different kind of mogul’s kid. Not clear there is a story here.  The mogul in question is hip-hop singer Sean Diddy Combs, sometimes known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy. At one time, he performed with a rap group known as “Diddy-Dirty Money” that recorded on a label called “Bad Boy Records.”  (The Times did not make an issue of that.) Anyway, his son got a football scholarship to…