Occupy Sacramento lawyers announced Friday afternoon they were “not surprised” UC Davis students arrested in the infamous “pepper spraying incident” in November were not charged by the Yolo County District Attorney – and they emphasized that it’s time the police officers at UC Davis are prosecuted… There have been 110 arrests at Occupy Sacramento since October at Cesar Chavez Park, according to Cres Vellucci of Occupy Sacramento. The Sacramento District Attorney refused to file charges in any of them. The City of Sacramento filed some charges, but has not successfully prosecuted any of them. Twenty-two cases remain of the 110 arrests.

Read full article [here].
by Dan Bacher , The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center.

Posted: January 20th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Unlike the other nine campuses of the University of California, UCSF enrolls no undergraduates, offers no history classes and gets so much money from government grants that it barely depends on the tuition its students pay to attend the medical school on a windy San Francisco hill. Yet UCSF is attached like Velcro to the other campuses, required to spend millions of dollars to help support them and send officials to countless meetings where students protest rising tuition and regents debate educational policy. At Thursday’s meeting at UC Riverside, UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann told the regents, delicately, that she wants out.

Read full article [here].
by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: January 20th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

During the regents’ morning session, 18 students staged a sit-down demonstration, causing the meeting to stop for about 50 minutes and then resume with limited public access. There were no arrests in that incident, but protesters continued to gather outside the building where the regents were meeting. When some regents and university staff tried to leave for the day, students climbed on top of several vehicles and blocked them. With about 200 protesters gathered in the campus roadway, the remaining officials waited inside for about two hours to avoid a confrontation. Police eventually escorted them out on foot via an alternative route.

Read full article [here].
by Larry Gordon, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: January 20th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The University of California on Thursday fired a tenured full professor, a move so rare it has happened only a handful of times over the past 30 years, the professor in question said. The UC Board of Regents voted in a closed meeting to fire Sarkis Joseph Khoury, a finance professor at UC Riverside’s A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management… The university charges that Khoury improperly received income while on three, full-pay sabbaticals from UC Riverside. But Khoury says the funds he received were expense stipends and that he became a target after criticizing hiring practices that he saw as discriminatory, as well as other university policies.

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by Christina Hoag, The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Posted: January 19th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

University of California students and administrators will join forces in May at the state Capitol in an effort to highlight the drastic impact of state budget cuts on the 10-campus system. University of California Board of Regents Chairwoman Sherry Lansing announced the rally Wednesday during the board’s meeting at UC Riverside… The UC system has faced significant budget cuts in the past few years. “Along with budget cuts, there have been steep fee increases,” Lawrence said. That affects students and their families, which is why it’s critical that the state reinvest in higher education, she said. College students in general “are really going to help lead future prosperity for the state of California.”

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by Yesenia Amaro , The Modesto Bee.

Posted: January 19th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Yudof’s attention to the no-tuition proposal developed by UC Riverside students is extraordinary because he and the regents have come to depend on hefty annual tuition increases to make up for much of the funds they no longer receive from the state. UC receives slightly more than $2 billion from the state’s General Fund, about $1 billion less than it had been getting in recent years. Lawmakers cut $750 million from UC’s budget this fiscal year alone… Instead of paying tuition – currently at $12,192, not including mandatory fees, room, board or books – the “UC Student Investment Proposal” would require that students commit to paying 5 percent of their annual income for 20 years after graduating.

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by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: January 18th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The University of California regents will break with tradition and move their May meeting from the usual settings on UC campuses to Sacramento so officials can participate in a rally at the state Capitol for improved funding for higher education. Regents Chairwoman Sherry Lansing announced that switch Wednesday as the regents began discussions about Gov. Jerry Brown’s grim proposal for next year’s state budget… “Unless our elected representatives start funding us at a realistic level, UC’s ability to serve the state and its citizens will be at serious risk,” Lansing said at a regents meeting being held at UC Riverside. “UC is the best investment in California’s economic future that our state leaders can make. It’s up to all of us to remind them of that.”

Read full article [here].
by Larry Gordon, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: January 18th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

A couple items of note on the agenda (a lot of the interesting ones are in closed session): There will be an update in closed session today on “pending or threatened litigation” coming out of the UC Davis and UC Berkeley student protests… Also in closed session, the Regents look at the proposed dismissal (without emeritus status) of a UC Riverside professor. Sarkis Joseph Khoury, 65, an international finance professor… On Thursday, the Regents will discuss Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2012 proposed budget and its impact on the public university system. UC was hit by $750 million in state funding cuts last year and faces the possibility of another $200 million in cuts again in 2012 if an initiative to raise taxes that the governor is trying to get on the November ballot is not approved by voters.

Read full article [here].
by Tami Abdollah, KPCC.

Posted: January 18th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

While developing countries have increased investment in higher education and produced more science and engineering graduates, the United States has reduced funding at major research universities, and American students are not keeping up with degrees in those fields. That information was released today by the National Science Board in the 2012 “Science and Engineering Indicators” report… “It’s too early in the discussion to conclude that we have gloom and doom. We have a robust environment at research universities,” he said. “It’s important that policymakers have a long-term view in support of these enterprises.” In the coming months, the NSB will issue a policy companion piece to this report with more in-depth recommendations regarding investment in science and engineering education.

Read full article [here].
by Caralee Adams, Education Week.

Posted: January 17th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Trustee John Rizzo, a technology writer who heard the presentation Thursday, said that until the problem is fixed, students should avoid using college computers for anything requiring a password – even Facebook. “Infected computers have the ability to record keystrokes and passwords,” he said. Trustee Chris Jackson, also at the presentation, said he was concerned that City College has spent a lot of money on security over the years, but has gotten little in return. “The most basic level of encryption for our computers was never put in place,” he said. “That’s unconscionable.” Peter Goldstein, the college’s vice chancellor for finance, defended the college’s past efforts at virus protection, saying the school had two firewalls.

Read full article [here].
by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: January 17th, 2012, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.