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From KQED Capital Notes 12/14/11 (excerpt): One thing that’s safe to say about John Burton, the veteran legislator who now chairs the California Democratic Party: he doesn’t ask for permission before he acts. And so on Tuesday, while Governor Jerry Brown was telling reporters that he hopes to clear the field of other tax initiatives aiming for the November ballot, Burton was filing a tax initiative of his own — an oil severance tax to help fund higher education… Burton’s proposal is pretty straightforward, and would assess a 12.5% tax per barrel of oil, with exceptions made for low-producing oil…

Background: Some instructors use videos in classes for various purposes. Of course, this practice has gone on since video tapes were around. Indeed, yours truly – who was at UCLA when mammoth elephants were still walking around campus – used 16 mm films back in the day. (Anyone remember film strips?) However, in some classes, streamed videos are used. Basically, enrolled students go to the course website, click on the video required, and see the video (motion, sound, etc.). In effect, it is the same as going to YouTube or similar websites. You don’t download the file from YouTube typically;…

In the wake of the November 2009 Regents meeting protests, over 100 senate faculty at UCLA signed a letter to Chancellor Block expressing grave concern over UC Police use of force against students and calling for a thorough review.  In response, the Chancellor convened a special task force, which has now released its report: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/document/Regents_Nov_2009_Meeting_Post_Event_Report.pdf I have not had time to review the text, and I urge those of you who signed on to read it over and add your response in the comment section for this post.   –Tobias Higbie 

The UC Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA) issued a report yesterday roundly criticizing the proposals of the Post Employment Benefits task force (PEB).  The report recommends rejecting options A and B put forth by the PEB majority, and also finds Option C (the faculty/staff dissenting report) lacking.  BFA calls for “Process D.”  You can download the full report (PDF) here, or read the short version on the BFA website.

The UCLA library recently emailed faculty about trying to retain certain rights to copyrighted works when they are published in professional journals or books. If you didn’t click into some of the sources on this issue, below are the topics from an important page. Note that the topics include use of copyrighted materials from others as well as your own materials. To get to the topic links, go to http://www.library.ucla.edu/service/12796.cfm Publishing Resources The following links lead to external resources that provide information about and assistance with various aspects of publishing. UCLA librarians and library staff also provide services in this…

There isn’t one. There are occasional reports of the governor meeting with legislative leaders but no sign of an accord in the legislature – where a 2/3 vote is required – or with the governor. At a meeting with the LA Chamber of Commerce yesterday, the governor sometimes seemed to say there would be a budget in a few weeks and sometimes that there might not be one until a new governor takes office. About a week ago, a reporter sent me an emailed question about the accuracy of the governor’s deficit clock posted outside his office: I wondered… about…

By Matt Krupnick Contra Costa Times Posted: 06/11/2010 04:00:00 PM PDT Updated: 06/11/2010 06:01:23 PM PDT Student fees should be called “tuition,” a University of California panel is recommending, marking a possible end to a decades-long refusal to use the word in California public higher education. While the recommendation by the Commission on the Future may seem trivial, the change would signal a philosophical shift for the 10-campus university. UC, as well as the California State University system, have long claimed publicly that students do not pay tuition, defined as the cost of instruction. At the same time, university leaders…

(Editorial Note: No mention in article below of $2-for-$1 pension problem which leads to money lost to UC. As previous posts have noted, inadequate contributions to UC pension lead to major losses of non-state funds.) UC: Millions lost in research costs from grants Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, June 16, 2010 The University of California misses out on hundreds of millions of dollars each year that could be used to bolster campus budgets because it is too passive in recovering research-relatedcosts as other universities do, a UC advisory group has found. UC could gain $300 million a…

Can CalPERS keep its Promises? San Francisco, Reuters, Oct. 23, 2009 Jim Christie, Reporting and Analysis This article reports that CalPERS lost more than $56 billion in its most recent fiscal year. Most likely contributions will increase significantly, at least by 2011-12.  But the choices are hard:        increasing contributions by public workers to their retirement plans, potentially by up to 50% for some employees;        raising taxes to cover higher contribution rates absorbed by government agencies, which may also jump by 50%;       cutting public services and payrolls to shift money to retirement plans;     …

A new report by the Legislative Analyst is out: http://www.lao.ca.gov/2009/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal_outlook_111809.pdfApart from the general grim outlook for the state, there is a section on higher ed and UC.  However, the pension issue is not covered in that section.  Rather, it appears on page 38 in a section on state retirement costs. No Additional State Payments for UC Retirement Programs Assumed. Consistent with past funding practices, our forecast assumes no additional state contributions between 2009‑10 and 2014‑15 to cover costs of UC’s pension and retiree health programs. Both have unfunded liabilities, and currently, no significant contributions are being paid by UC or…