Below is Claude's summary for yours truly of blog postings for the past week, modified where necessary by clarification:
Dan Mitchell's Blog – Weekly Summary, November 1–7, 2026
November 1, 2026
Did you fall back? – Marking the end of daylight saving time, the blogger notes it's time for the annual grumbling about clock changes and pastes an AI-generated summary of the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139), which passed the House in July 2026 but has stalled in the Senate. He also links his 2022 video on time zones.
If our scary Halloween offering yesterday was too much for you, here's a shorter one – A video-only post: the blogger embeds a short Halloween clip [stored by yours truly on a Internet Archive page that mainly has Newsom briefings and clips], offered tongue-in-cheek as a lighter follow-up to the previous day's post.
Straws in the Wind - Part 512 – From the Daily Pennsylvanian: as anti-government protests in France turned into riots, Penn issued a safety alert to students in its three Paris study-abroad programs, telling them to expect disruption and leave at the first sign of unrest.
Actives Percent – The blogger's own chart of percentage increases in UC health premiums for active employees for the coming plan year, following his Oct. 26 dollar comparisons. He observes the increases are large and well above the 3–4% inflation rate.
Weekly Record – A Claude-prepared recap of the blog's posts from the prior week; the blogger says these weekly summaries will continue.
November 2, 2026
No More – From the Daily Bruin: amid budget consolidation, UCLA Library closed its data consultation center and folded the Data Science Center into research services; a former director questions what will happen to its data repositories.
Straws in the Wind - Part 513 – From Inside Higher Ed: Education Secretary McMahon, speaking at Arizona State, urged colleges to follow ASU's example while criticizing "corporate-style" universities.
Non-Medicare Percent – The blogger's own chart of premium changes for non-Medicare UC retirees. He finds a mixed picture, from big drops to big increases, with most plans rising sharply unless the retiree is in the most expensive UC Care plan.
We're still looking for numbers and definitions - Part 2 – The blogger's own analysis of UCLA budget tables shown at an Oct. 29 Academic Senate Zoom session, noting the public budget page stops at FY 2024-25. He calculates a deficit of roughly $95 million for 2025-26 and about $303 million projected for 2026-27, questions the stock-versus-flow wording, and asks the Senate to post a recording.
November 3, 2026
Davis discovers volunteers aren't free – From the Sacramento Bee: UC Davis is phasing out a subsidy that capped out-of-pocket maximums on its Blue and Gold health plan, roughly doubling the ceilings; the UPTE union and a worker featured in UC Davis Health ads object. The sardonic headline is the blogger's.
Straws in the Wind - Part 514 – From Inside Higher Ed: the Pentagon says 30 universities audited their foreign partnerships and "fully mitigated" them, singling out seven.
All in Medicare - Percent – The blogger's own chart of premium changes for UC retirees all in Medicare. He notes Medicare largely insulated these retirees from increases, except those in UC's Medicare Advantage plan (Medicare Choice).
We're still looking for numbers and definitions - Part 3 – The blogger continues his line-by-line questions about the UCLA budget table from the Oct. 29 Zoom meeting, covering items such as indirect cost recovery, athletics, UCLA Health business units and a $250 million athletics bond. He again asks for the Zoom recording and the 2025-26 UCLA budget to be posted.
November 4, 2026
DOJ Berkeley Law Journal Probe – From the Daily Californian: the Justice Department is investigating the California Law Review over an outside allegation that it planned to delete internal application records; the journal's editors and Dean Chemerinsky deny wrongdoing.
Straws in the Wind - Part 515 – From the Yale Daily News: Yale Divinity School has cut enrollment over two admissions cycles to preserve full-tuition aid after the federal endowment tax increased.
Medicare-Eligible - One or More Family Members Not Eligible - Percent – The final chart in the blogger's series on UC retiree premiums, covering Medicare-eligible retirees with non-Medicare family members. His takeaway: "Not being in Medicare is bad news."
2 Bonds – Drawing on the Daily Bruin, NYT and KQED: Prop 1 ($11.25 billion for housing, including $350 million for public student housing) passed with about 59%, while Prop 38 ($8.4 billion for immunology research) was leading with about 55%. The blogger notes Prop 38 funds a research institute on UCLA's Westside Pavilion property.
November 5, 2026
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 209 – From the Harvard Crimson: the share of Institute of Politics executive team members going into public service fell from about 58% (2016-20) to about 19% (2021-25).
Stanford Band of Bothers (not a typo) – From the Stanford Daily: Stanford removed an AI-generated image of its marching band, depicted as all-white and all-male, from a construction project webpage. The blogger adds a joke image of a band leader.
Straws in the Wind - Part 516 – From the Daily Pennsylvanian: Penn's Graduate School of Education launched a "Living Laboratory for Human Agency and AI" to develop guidance on AI in education.
2 Bonds: Arms Length for 38 – UC President Milliken welcomed Prop 1's $175 million for UC housing, but the blogger notes that neither Milliken nor UCLA Chancellor Frenk had mentioned Prop 38, which funds a UCLA-connected institute; he suggests they are keeping it at arm's length.
Lieu Wins – From the Daily Bruin: Rep. Ted Lieu was reelected in CA-36, which includes Westwood and UCLA. The blogger recalls a 2022 episode in which Lieu briefly opposed NIH animal-research funding, which he believes UCLA representatives discouraged, and closes with a wry line.
November 6, 2026
Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge - Part 210 – From Inside Higher Ed: a federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed without prejudice the DOJ suit seeking Harvard's admissions data, saying the ruling doesn't decide the discrimination question; DOJ plans to refile.
405 Lane Alternatives – Reproduces an LA Metro notice: Metro and Caltrans are studying four options for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass, with no option chosen yet and a draft environmental document expected in late 2026.
Straws in the Wind - Part 517 – From the Columbia Daily Spectator: Columbia spent about $200,000 on federal lobbying in Q3 2026, below last year's pace, on issues including H-1B fees, graduate loan caps and an OMB grant-rules proposal.
Claude's Legal Research – The blogger had Claude summarize the UC Regents' brief seeking dismissal of DOJ's antisemitism suit against UCLA, which lays out six arguments and notes a Feb. 1, 2027 hearing. He redacted individuals' names and asked Claude to alert him to any responses.
Zbur – From the Daily Bruin: Rick Chavez Zbur was reelected in AD-51, which includes UCLA, with about 61.5% to Colin Hernandez's 38.5%. The blogger adds an "as of this morning" results screenshot.
November 7, 2026
Goldsmith – From the Santa Monica Mirror: Brian Goldsmith declared victory in SD-24 (which includes Westwood) after John M. Erickson conceded; he succeeds Ben Allen. The blogger adds a results screenshot.
The Other Thing That Happened on Election Day – Citing a Claude support article, the blogger notes Claude began embedding a text watermark on Nov. 3, linked to EU rules. In his own essay he discusses false positives in AI detection and whether using AI for grammar is legitimate, noting that universities are now providing AI tools to students and staff.
Straws in the Wind - Part 518 – From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell will offer free access to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, starting with Ithaca faculty, staff and PhD students in November and master's and undergraduate students in early 2027.
ICE Jail – From the Daily Californian: a UC Berkeley student was detained by immigration agents at SFO on Oct. 30 and is being held at a California City facility; her attorney is quoted.
Letter of Love – Reposts UC President Milliken's Nov. 6 statement on the election, congratulating Becerra, Fiona Ma and Richard Barrera, who will join the UC Regents. The blogger adds a video link with a tongue-in-cheek note.
Total posts for the week: 32
