Mark Yudof Says Yes-No to UC's Public Option

Mark Yudof Says Yes-No to UC's Public Option

You didn't think Mark Yudof would come out in favor of 32% 1-year tuition hikes and full-speed privatization, and you were right. He opposes these things. "I am angry too" about higher fees, he says, and adds, "The closer that the university comes to being free, the happier I am."  This is nicely said.  In his last paragraph, he states, "We will not privatize the university. ...

UC Systemwide Protest Roundup

UC Systemwide Protest Roundup

Thank you to Parties Unknown for this aggregation of coverage of the systemwide protests of UC's budget cuts on September 24th.  And thanks as...

We Are All Corpses Now?

We Are All Corpses Now?

There were kick-off events of Sept 23-24 all over the UC system, and they seem to have succeeded at their goals of making the cuts visible - or audible - and expressing deep commitment to the public status of the University of California. We've linked to news coverage at left, and await video and further descriptions of the specific commentary. How did UC's various senior managers...

An Argument Against Abolishing The Master Plan

An Argument Against Abolishing The Master Plan

BY Jonathan Lemuel It is always intimidating to write against the opinions of the Great and the Powerful. This difficulty is especially large for someone, like me, speaking on topics far out of my depth. Indeed, my only claim to this subject, as some of you may know, derives from my efforts to translate the ramblings of my Yahoo into prose approaching a Journal. But as I...

There is NO Alternative

There is NO Alternative

There are the great stories of what UC does for learning, for knowledge, for the economy, for California - and especially for students. There is the...

UCSB Day of Action Sept 24

UCSB Day of Action Sept 24

a href="Day of Action Schedule "&g...

Saying the Thing that is Not

Saying the Thing that is Not

By Anonymous. To the Reader:  I have done my best in this post to translate Yahoo into something approaching common English.  As you all probably remember from your reading of Gulliver’s Travels it is common for Yahoos to speak mostly in grunts and to express their dismay in an unintelligible lack of reason. I have also attempted to track down some of what the author...

Berkeley Faculty Group Endorses Week of Education

Berkeley Faculty Group Endorses Week of Education

The members of the Reactivate the Berkeley Faculty Association endorse the "Week of Education" concerning the budget crisis.  We encourage all faculty to find ways to participate in it. There are many possibilities, ranging from holding in-class discussions with students about the nature of the crisis and possible solutions to it, to taking part in walk outs, and...

Day of Action at UCI

Day of Action at UCI

This is the UCI Day of Action blog. It contains a press release, program of events and a link to a critical document that has been developed by a group of concerned facult...

Video of UC Berkeley Teach-In on the State of UC

Video of UC Berkeley Teach-In on the State of UC

all SEGMENTS HE...

Mark Yudof's Budget Remarks at UC Regents Meeting

Mark Yudof's Budget Remarks at UC Regents Meeting

Links to Segment 1, Segment 2, Segment 3 Charles Schwartz again critiques the claim that "restricted" funds are truly restricted. UC CFO Peter Taylor...

Starving the State of California?

Starving the State of California?

The Parsky Commission Tax Proposals by Michael Meranze As Chris noted in an entry last week,the Commission on the 21st Century Economy (COTCE, commonly referred to as the Parsky Commission) is about to issue its recommendations for tax reform to the Governor and Legislature. Although the Commission hasn’t released its recommendations in final form, Staff presentations yesterday,earlier...

UC Student Association Endorses Walkout

UC Student Association Endorses Walkout

UCSA's Statewide meeting at UCLA this weekend endorsed this resolution by what we are told was an unanimous roll-call vote. There is now a link to the official version. *** Resolution in Support of the September 24th UC-Wide Walkout WHEREAS, In an effort to close the budget gap, the University of California Regents in July declared a state of fiscal emergency, afforded UC President...

The Fee Hike Shoe Drops

The Fee Hike Shoe Drops

While I wait for me to finish two articles this weekend, here's our pal Joe's summary of the essentials of Regents Item F1, on the ongoing budget disaster and two new rounds of student fee increases: For an extremely discouraging read, see Item F1 for the Regents' Finance Committee: It includes  "Proposal. Within the current budget context, this Item proposes a mid-year...

Schwarzenegger Tax Commission Proposals: Will They Reduce State Revenues?

Schwarzenegger Tax Commission Proposals: Will They Reduce State Revenues?

Thanks to Michael for alerting us to the fact that the Governor's tax reform commission has just released draft language of its proposals.  These include a reduction of the top rate of the state income tax and the complete phase-out of the corporate income tax, to be replaced by a "net business receipts tax."  Sac Bee coverage notes that the new income tax would be less...

Non-resident tuition: “profit” = revenues - costs

Non-resident tuition: “profit” = revenues - costs

An earlier post by Chris noted that there are presently a number of individuals and groups within UC that suggest that UC can increase its funding, independent of the fickle fluctuations in state funds, by admitting more out of state students and collecting the associated "non-resident tuition" and "fees". So let's clarify just how much extra money is really available as apparent...

Notes on the UC Commission's First Meeting

Notes on the UC Commission's First Meeting

UC planning and budgeting are currently controlled by a logic of cuts, and the Board of Regents Chair Russell Gould said at the start of the meeting that this is a problem.  We need to avoid, he said, reducing resources in ways that reduce quality that further reduce the capacity to attract resources. We need to avoid, he said, a death spiral of cuts. The kick-off speaker...

Regents Commission's First Speaker: Overview of the Delta Project

Regents Commission's First Speaker: Overview of the Delta Project

The "Gould Commission" is holding its first formal meeting tomorrow at UCSF-Mission Bay, and its speaker is Jane V. Wellman, Executive Director, Delta...

No Confidence Vote is of Landslide Proportions

No Confidence Vote is of Landslide Proportions

Press accounts are stating that the union-sponsored no-confidence vote in UC President Mark Yudof went 96% against him, out of around 10,000 people who cast votes. UCOP is dismissing the vote as a "stunt." The lopsided nature of the vote does suggest that it may not be a scientific sample of the entirety of UC opinion.  Still, criticisms of UCOP management are deep and wide. ...

Cuts and UC's Core Values: UCB Prof. Catherine M Cole

Cuts and UC's Core Values: UCB Prof. Catherine M Cole

Cole to Students - UC Budget Context ...

Can Doubling Out-of-State Students Save Berkeley's Budget?

Can Doubling Out-of-State Students Save Berkeley's Budget?

Over the years, UC officials have grasped at many budgetary straws, and the one that is now circulating in the press is the claim that UC Berkeley can recover from its two-year 25% cuts in state funds by doing many small things, above all by admitting more out of state students.Can it? I'm not going to talk about the impact on diversity, education, and California society of shifting...

A Trickle Rising River of Layoffs

A Trickle Rising River of Layoffs

Furloughs were pitched by UC administrators as an alternative to layoffs - sort of. Employees were threatened with layoffs - or at least more layoffs - if they didn't support and accept the furloughs/ pay cuts. Berkeley Law Dean and Yudof advisor Chris Edley's denunciation of the delay-the-cuts petition said that delay in pay cuts "would create many more layoffs -- because such...