They Got Him!

Our local component of the Epstein affair focused on an adjunct faculty member who has now resigned. As blog readers will know, yours truly views this affair as a witch hunt that has gotten way, way out of control, as witch hunts - including the famous one at Salem - are prone to do. 

Republicans thought that if all the Epstein files came out, they would embarrass the Clintons. Why they would think embarrassing the Clintons years after their political careers ended would somehow save Republican control of the House in the midterms is beyond me. So far, all they have gotten a photo of Bill Clinton in a hot tub. Democrats thought, with more relevance, that the files would embarrass President Trump - although he has shown no personal capacity for embarrassment. 

The underlying truth is that Epstein was a con man who started out as a high school math teacher (using false credentials), and inveigled himself into society and academia, became wealthy, and would hold out the prospect of handing out money for research grants. In some cases, money was actually raised from Epstein, enough so that academics and others would cater to him. In some cases, no money appeared. But many of the names that were shamed - including the one at UCLA - were mainly guilty of... fundraising. And the fact that many well-known academics and others have been caught in this affair has in fact diverted what attention there was from the Clintons and Trump to all the others. It's another version of flooding the zone. There is so much to talk about that the original intent has been lost and all kinds of other agendas are being advanced.

The faculty member at UCLA who got caught up in the Epstein affair had this to say upon resigning:

“Unfortunately, up to 100 arts and humanities students won’t be able to earn a Life Sciences core credit by taking my GE course this Spring as a result of the McCarthyism, hysteria, and prejudice promulgated by the media, including the Daily Bruin..."*

I'm not sure the 100 arts and humanities students that won't be taking the GE Life Sciences course would know what the word "McCarthyism" refers to. But maybe there should be a GE course on that, and not just for them.

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*https://dailybruin.com/2026/03/06/ucla-professor-to-retire-cancel-spring-class-amid-criticism-over-epstein-ties.

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There are a lot of reasons why this hysteria is being pushed; in fact, there are more due to recent events:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xpA433dKXko.

Straws in the Wind - Part 278

From the Daily Princetonian: University faculty and administrators will consider a proposal to require proctoring for all in-person examinations, which would mark a departure from the traditionally unproctored exam format under the Honor Code. If passed, the policy could take effect as early as next fall, according to Honor Committee members. The proposal was discussed in a meeting between Honor Committee leadership and Dean of the College Michael Gordin on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Although conversations about proctored examinations have been ongoing in recent years, the new policy is now set to enter a multi-stage faculty and administrative review before it can come to a vote by the faculty. Currently, only individual and small group examinations are proctored.

The tradition of not proctoring has existed since the introduction of Princeton’s honor system in 1893. The system has relied on student self-governance and mutual accountability. Students pledge both to refrain from infractions of academic dishonesty and to report any breaches of the Constitution they witness. 

“The prohibition on proctoring is formalized in ‘Rules and Procedures of the Faculty.’ Any change to that policy would have to pass through the relevant committees and be voted on by the full faculty,” Gordin wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “Since that process has not begun, I cannot predict when it would conclude.”

...An expansion of proctoring already occurred earlier this academic year, according to Makuc. In November, faculty were instructed to proctor all individual and small-group exams, including make-up exams, exams taken by student-athletes while traveling, and exams taken with disability accommodations. The University’s consideration of the new policy stems from broader concerns about academic integrity and enforcement...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/03/princeton-news-adpol-proctoring-honor-code-in-person-exams.

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From Inside Higher Ed: Indiana’s governor has signed into law a bill that aims to eliminate all academic programs at the state’s public universities and at Ivy Tech Community College that fail a new federal earnings test. Congress created the Do No Harm test when it passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. The test, which hasn’t yet taken effect, will generally require programs to show their graduates earn more on average than high school diploma earners (just over $35,000 in Indiana), or else students in those programs will no longer be able to receive federal student loans. Graduate and professional program earnings would further have to exceed bachelor's degree earnings.

But Indiana’s Senate Bill 199 will make failing that test even more punitive in the Hoosier State. It adopts the federal test into state law and says programs that fail it must close entirely—unless the state Commission for Higher Education, a group of gubernatorial appointees, grants an exemption...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/03/10/indiana-governor-signs-bill-end-low-earning-degrees.

Lucky Me: Second Time I've Won!

It's one thing to win a prize. But it's really super to win a certified prize.
 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 131

From the Harvard Crimson: Graduate students at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences who teach more courses than required for their degree programs no longer receive additional compensation under a policy that took effect at the start of the fall 2025 semester. The change, part of a broader overhaul of SEAS’s Ph.D. funding model announced to faculty in June 2024, eliminated the bonus stipend previously paid to students who taught beyond their program’s required teaching load.

Under the new policy, doctoral students who teach additional sections receive the same overall compensation they would earn in a semester focused solely on research. Instead of adding extra pay for additional teaching work, SEAS adjusts the portion of a student’s funding allocated to research assistantships during semesters in which they teach...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/3/4/seas-grad-students-pay-change/.

More Bargaining News

As we have noted previously, the powers-that-be at UCOP have taken a more proactive approach to collective bargaining and union-management affairs since the strike of student workers a few years back. (We could see another such strike in the not-so-distant future.) But there are other unions also engaged in bargaining and UC's approach now is to control the narrative. So, UC issued the news release below last week:

UC, Teamsters Local 2010 Extend Contract as Bargaining Progress Continues

As a positive sign of collaborative, good-faith bargaining, the University of California and Teamsters Local 2010 have reached a contract extension agreement. The contract for the union, which represents 18,820 clerical and allied services employees across the UC system, will now expire May 30, 2026.

“These additional two months of bargaining allow us to build on the constructive progress already made and continue working together toward a fair agreement that reflects the contributions of our clerical and allied services employees,” said Missy Matella, Associate Vice President for Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations. “We appreciate the collaborative spirit shown by Teamsters Local 2010 and remain committed to reaching a contract that supports our workforce and the important work happening across the UC system.”

The extension comes as UC continues good-faith negotiations with five of the nine systemwide unions, including the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Committee of Interns and Residents–Service Employees International Union (CIR-SEIU), the Federated University Police Officers’ Association (FUPOA), the American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Since bargaining began in September, UC and Teamsters have exchanged 109 proposals and reached tentative agreements on 30 articles. The parties will continue negotiations on March 17.

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-teamsters-local-2010-extend-contract-bargaining-progress-continues.

Straws in the Wind - Part 277

From the Nebraska Examiner: Some University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty are looking to make history again next month by seeking “no-confidence” votes, this time targeting three top administrators they describe as “architects” of recent budget cuts at UNL. In a draft motion and resolutions shared Tuesday morning with the Nebraska Examiner, faculty are proceeding with plans to effectively impeach Mark Button, UNL’s executive vice chancellor; Tiffany Heng-Moss, newly named vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Jennifer Nelson, interim vice chancellor for research and innovation.

“The architects of the program eliminations must be held accountable so the UNL community can move forward,” said Susan VanderPlas, a statistics professor and member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

In November, as then-UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett pursued $27.5 million in budget cuts, the UNL Faculty Senate passed UNL’s first-ever no-confidence vote, 60-14. Bennett abruptly resigned in January, leaving with a $1.1 million buyout...

Full story at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/03/03/unl-faculty-to-introduce-no-confidence-resolutions-against-three-more-administrators/. 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 130

From the Harvard Crimson: In [an] email announcing the decision to employees, [Alumni Affairs and Development] Vice President James J. “Jim” Husson said [55]  layoffs followed continued budgetary strain and came after earlier cost-cutting efforts, including a pause on merit-based wage increases and limits on hiring. The email, which was obtained by The Crimson, did not rule out further layoffs. “We could not meet our budget reduction goals without reducing positions,” Husson wrote in the email. “With our new organizational structure now in place, and with input from the managers who will lead these teams going forward, we have made difficult but necessary decisions to ensure AA&D’s sustainability.”

Harvard Alumni Association spokesperson Cameron Wolfsen declined to comment on the layoffs... The AA&D layoffs are the latest in a series of austerity measures as Harvard prepares for a potential increase to the federal tax on large university endowments, which could cost the University upwards of $200 million annually...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/3/4/alumni-development-layoffs/.