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Thursday, 17 September 2009
1. UC regents reluctantly backing proposal for more student fee increases
Given California's financial condition, the board seems prepared to impose a mid-year increase in January and another next fall. Protests to the plan result in 14 arrests.
Los Angeles Times
September 17, 2009
Reporting from San Francisco -- Proposals to sharply raise student fees AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CAMPUSES this winter and again next fall, and to further restrict freshman enrollment, appeared to gain reluctant support Wednesday from the system's governing board. Yet, the plan also triggered angry opposition from students and employees that led to 14 arrests.
Meeting in San Francisco, some UC regents said they wondered whether it would be fair or even legal to raise fees in the middle of the academic year.
But given grim forecasts about the state budget, the board seemed prepared to impose a midyear increase of $558 in January, on top of the extra $662 in fees already approved for undergraduates this fall. The proposal calls for an additional increase of $1,956 to be charged next fall....
Under the fee proposal, professional school students in areas such as medicine, law and dentistry also would see steeper increases over the next three years. For example, by 2012-13, a UC BERKELEY LAW STUDENT would pay $51,818 per year, or 40% more than this year, and a UCLA medical student would pay $34,616, or 33% more. Those figures do not include the costs of living and books.
[Other stories on this topic appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, KGO TV (link to video), and KQED Radio's California Report (link to audio)] Full Story
2. Cal centralizes research admin, cuts jobs
San Francisco Business Times
September 17, 2009
Some research units at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, won’t handle their own administration, personnel and grant management anymore.
An existing centralized campus unit — RESEARCH ENTERPRISE SERVICES — will take on that sort of work, including purchasing, in December.
But that means about 60 people in those departments who handled that work before will now be competing for just 40 jobs in the RES unit....
GRAHAM FLEMING, CAL’S VICE CHANCELLOR FOR RESEARCH, oversees the RES unit, which already handles admin work for nine of the school’s research units....
Existing units already using RES for admin say the service is OK. In a press release Cal quoted ROBERT KNIGHT, M.D., A NEUROSCIENCE PROFESSOR, saying, “RES staff members have been extremely responsive to the needs of our faculty.”
Fleming said the decision to reorganize this way had to be made quickly: “Time is our enemy. For each week of delay, at least one more layoff would be necessary.” Full Story
3. U.C. Berkeley Foundation puts endowment in professional hands
San Francisco Business Times
September 17, 2009
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FOUNDATION’s board of trustees set up a professional nonprofit corporation to handle its $736 million endowment.
Previously, a volunteer investment committee oversaw that money.
John-Austin Saviano will oversee the new management company as president and chief investment officer....
Saviano’s not a U.C. Berkeley employee — both the foundation and the subsidiary management company are independent of the university they serve....
For half a century after it was set up in 1868, Cal was financially supported by the people who’d helped found it — Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Jane Sather, Charles Franklin Doe, and others.
Then from 1919 until 1968 the school — the crown jewel of California’s much-admired public university system — got 95 percent of its money from the state.
Things have changed, and these days Cal gets just 31 percent of its budget from California’s government. That’s forced it to modernize and professionalize its fundraising. Only in 1985 did the university start its first capital campaign, which raised $469 million.
A second campaign, from 1996 to 2000, raised $1.44 billion.
Now, under a drive started a year ago this week, Cal seeks to raise $3 billion by June 30, 2013. Full Story
4. California law school's study finds evidence of racial profiling in Irving
Dallas Morning News
September 17, 2009
An academic study of the Criminal Alien Program in Irving released Wednesday by a California law school said there is "strong evidence" that Irving police racially profiled Hispanics and probably referred lawful residents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Irving Mayor Herbert Gears called the study's findings flawed and said that the city would challenge the report's conclusions. Hispanic leaders said the report backs up long-running claims that police began targeting Hispanic residents once ICE officials started round-the-clock immigration checks on people arrested in the city.
The study by the CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN INSTITUTE ON RACE, ETHNICITY AND DIVERSITY analyzed Irving police arrest records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas....
The institute is part of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY LAW SCHOOL. It uses university and private funding to develop research aimed at informing advocacy groups, legislators and the public.... Full Story
5. Nano manufacturing's new page with 'NanoPen'
InTech
September 17, 2009
A "NanoPen" could provide an easy way of laying down patterns of nanoparticles for making electronic devices and medical diagnostic tests.
There are already several different techniques to produce patterns of nanoparticles, which are barely 1/50,000th the width of a human hair, said MING WU, A PROFESSOR OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCES DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. But current techniques tend to be too complex and slow. They require bulky instrumentation and take minutes or even hours to complete. These techniques also require the use of very high temperatures to apply the nanostructures to their target surfaces. Such limitations prevent widespread application of such techniques, the researchers said.
The “NanoPen” solves these problems. In lab studies, the researchers used it to deposit various nanoparticles into specific patterns in the presence of relatively low light and temperature intensities.... Full Story
6. Room for Debate Blog: Grading the Baucus Health Plan
New York Times Online (*requires registration)
September 16, 2009
After months of preparations and negotiations, Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, unveiled his health care bill on Wednesday morning. The three Republicans in the so-called Gang of Six working on the legislation with Senator Baucus have so far refused to endorse his proposal, though negotiations will continue.
We asked health analysts and economists for their reactions to the bill. What are its most notable strengths and flaws? Does it achieve the broad goal of health reform?
... Needed: A Private Plan Option
William Dow
WILLIAM H. DOW, who was a senior economist for President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, is a PROFESSOR OF HEALTH ECONOMICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY:
The health reform mark released today by Senator Baucus proposes several compromises regarding a “public option.” For proponents, he proposes seeding new nonprofit cooperative health insurers. For supporters of private insurance approaches, he allows some Medicaid eligibles (only those with incomes 100-133 percent of the poverty line) to choose private insurance plans instead in their insurance exchange.
He would also expand “premium support” programs that subsidize Medicaid eligibles who instead choose employer insurance. These proposals offer something for both sides of the public/private debate, but as proposed they would likely have little impact. I would suggest building on the spirit of these proposals to offer more meaningful compromise proposals.... Full Story
7. The IMF assessed: A good war
Economist [UK]
September 17, 2009
Washington, DC -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the ebullient managing director of the International Monetary Fund, likens its role to that of a doctor. As the crisis has spread, the IMF has been called in to cure ailing economies from Ukraine to Pakistan. It is still too early to judge the success of the fund’s prescriptions for troubled countries. But the IMF itself is certainly in far ruder health than it was at the start of the financial crisis.
Just a year ago the fund’s finances were in tatters and its relevance was in doubt. During the early stages of an economic crisis that should have been its natural terrain, BARRY EICHENGREEN, AN ECONOMIC HISTORIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, wrote: “Global crises used to remind us why we have the IMF. If the fund doesn’t come up with some new ideas for how to handle this one, the crisis may only remind us why we can forget it.”... Full Story
8. Executives Inject Real-World Knowledge Into Classrooms
New York Times (*requires registration)
September 17, 2009
Bethlehem, Pa. -- Midway through one of his undergraduate seminars on mergers and acquisitions at Lehigh’s business school, John R. Chrin reached a topic he knew intimately....
Mr. Chrin, Lehigh’s global financial services executive in residence, is one of a handful of top deal-makers who have recently traded the boardroom for the classroom: Gregory Fleming, Merrill Lynch’s former president, is co-teaching a course on the causes of the financial crisis at his alma mater, Yale Law School; Thomas Russo, Lehman Brothers’ former chief legal officer, taught a class on crisis decision-making at Columbia Business School.
Others are accepting ivory tower posts. Edward C. Forst, a senior Goldman Sachs executive, took a top administration job at Harvard for a year before returning to the Wall Street firm. And FRANK YEARY, Citigroup’s former global head of mergers and acquisitions, is now a VICE CHANCELLOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.
Universities have long brought in business leaders to inject real-world know-how into their lesson plans. But they have redoubled that effort amid the fallout from the financial crisis.... Full Story
9. Investors are thrilled yet anxious about stock market rally
People still smarting from last year's devastation in their mutual funds and 401(k) accounts worry that the almost relentless advance could give way to another free fall.
Los Angeles Times
September 17, 2009
Reporting from Los Angeles and New York - Dania Leon's portfolio has surged 55% during the stock market's booming rally over the six last months -- and she couldn't be more nervous....
The lack of a significant interruption in the march upward worries Keith Murphy....
"Every single day I get ready to click the sell button and pull my chips off the table," Murphy said. "It's confusing, and I'm afraid of what to do and afraid we could be in a bubble. The market's looking floppy, and the reasons for growth don't make sense."
Such fears are understandable, said TERRY ODEAN, AN EXPERT IN INVESTOR BEHAVIOR AT UC BERKELEY.
"You got whacked on the upside of your head last year, and you're looking over your shoulder to see if it's coming again," Odean said.... Full Story
10. Trade Tripper: Of drinking and national treatment
Business World
September 17, 2009
Last July 29, 2009, the European Commission requested that the Philippines join it for consultations at the WTO regarding excise taxes on distilled spirits. Apparently, the EC considers the taxes discriminatory against their products. In essence, the EC centers its complaint on Republic Act No. 9334 — An Act Increasing the Excise Tax Rates Imposed on Alcohol and Tobacco Products....
It would be fascinating to see how this case turns out. As BusinessWorld reported — correctly — last Monday, the "EU and US have jointly filed cases against three other WTO members over liquor taxes — Chile, Japan and Korea — all of which were decided in favor of the two major exporters, dispute archives show. In the Korea case, for instance, arbiters decided that soju, an indigenous beverage which enjoyed lower tax rates than its foreign counterparts, was ’directly competitive and substitutable with imported distilled alcoholic beverages’. Korea had to comply with the WTO ruling in 1999, amending its tax laws to instead require flat rates on all liquor products." To the foregoing is added recent research findings, most notably ANDREW GUZMAN’S OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, in his paper "The Political Economy of Litigation and Settlement at the WTO" (corroborated in recent empirical analysis by Juscelino Colares of Syracuse University), which showed that complainant countries in WTO disputes win their cases almost 90% of the time.... Full Story
11. On the Job Blog: Stop making sense
A political messaging pro puts his finger on why progressives -- and Obama -- are off-track
San Francisco Chronicle Online
September 17, 2009
The morning after President Obama's address to Congress on health care reform last week, Jonah Sachs sat in a Berkeley cafe and took the pulse of a dispirited half of the country.
"People working on progressive issues, with truth and information on their side -- those should be the greatest weapons," the co-founder and creative director of the design and strategy firm Free Range Studios said. "But those things are actually a huge liability. The left ends up relying on truth and information too much, and neglecting the impact of the emotional and the irrational."
...Sachs cites GEORGE LAKOFF, THE INFLUENTIAL U.C. BERKELEY PROFESSOR OF LINGUISTICS AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE.
"The idea of a 'public option' -- what the hell is that? So uninspiring and bureaucratic. Lakoff calls it 'PolicySpeak.' That's not cool. 'Death panels' are cool! I can picture death panels," Sachs laughed.... Full Story
12. Pod Cars May Be In South Bay's Future
KTVU
September 16, 2009
Mountain View, Calif. -- A new concept in commuting may be gaining momentum. The idea involves personal pod-cars or PRT's that offer on-demand non-stop transportation in a system called ULTRA....
"It goes nonstop point to point at 25 miles per hour," explained Steve Raney of Advanced Transport Systems Inc. "The cars down below with traffic lights are going closer to 12 miles an hour, so it's actually faster. So that makes it really competitive."...
One commuter asked about companies moving locations away from a PRT system. "Shuttle bus is flexible but to set a certain route is a little bit risky," said Masae Otsuka of Mountain View.
"What it does is it makes the buildings that are served by PRT a lot more valuable," responded Raney. 100 percent more valuable in one study by a UC BERKELEY PROFESSOR [CITY & REGIONAL PLANNING PROFESSOR ROBERT CERVERO] the company cited....
[Link to video] Full Story
13. Blog: Best Engineering Colleges List Has Few Surprises
Design News Online
September 16, 2009
A familiar roster of schools has grabbed the top spots in U.S. News & World Report’s annual engineering school rankings, released earlier this month.
...Schools in the “doctorate top ten” included: MIT (1); Stanford and CAL-BERKELEY (tied for 2nd); Cal Tech (4); Georgia Tech and University of Illinois (tied for 5th); Carnegie Mellon and University of Michigan (tied for 7th); Cornell, Purdue and University of Texas (tied for 9th).... Full Story
14. Detained Americans' kin write to Iran's president
San Francisco Chronicle
September 17, 2009
New York, (AP) -- The mothers of three Americans being detained in Iran wrote to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday, asking him to bring their children with him to New York next week.
"Nothing would delight us more than to embrace our children and to express to you, in person, our profound gratitude for the kindness of the Iranian people," Cindy Hickey, Nora Shourd and Laura Fattal wrote Ahmadinejad.
They asked the president to bring SHANE BAUER, JOSH FATTAL AND SARAH SHOURD with him and meet with the families during his expected trip to New York for next week's U.N. General Assembly meeting....
Their children, who range in age from 27 to 31, were taken into custody July 31 after entering Iran from Iraq without authorization. Their families say the three accidentally crossed a poorly marked border while hiking on vacation, but Iran's state media has said they ignored border guards' warnings....
ALL THREE ARE GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.
[This story also appeared in the Sacramento Bee] Full Story