Security Concerns

From the LA Times:

• UCLA canceled the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture scheduled for Feb. 27, with CBS News chief Bari Weiss withdrawing over security concerns.
• Campus opposition and anticipated large-scale student protests from Burkle Center staff prompted the decision, despite the university offering enhanced security.
• The cancellation reflects turmoil at CBS under Weiss, who controversially pulled a “60 Minutes” episode examining alleged deportee abuse.

...The Daniel Pearl Memorial lecture series honors the late journalist and is considered the capstone of the university’s Burkle Center for International Relations. Previous speakers include journalists Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper and Bob Woodward...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-02-18/cbss-bari-weiss-pulls-out-of-ucla-lecture.

Note: There was a report in the Daily Bruin that the lecture might take place via Zoom:

https://dailybruin.com/2026/02/18/cbs-editor-in-chief-bari-weiss-ucla-on-campus-lecture-canceled.

The Lease - Part 3

As blog readers will know, UCLA has leased a baseball field from the nearby VA campus for many years.* Other entities, notably the Brentwood School, have also had leases. Litigation voided the leases other than UCLA's and now a program to house homeless veterans is under way, according to LAist:

...The VA said it... found last year that it has been underpaid by more than $40 million per year based on the fair market value of the properties.

The backstory: Last May, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing the VA secretary to designate a national hub for veterans experiencing homelessness, the National Center for Warrior Independence, on the West L.A. VA campus.

What officials say: Doug Collins, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said Monday that the groups that had their leases and license terminated have been “fleecing” taxpayers and veterans for far too long. He said, under Trump, the VA is taking action to ensure the West L.A. campus is used only to benefit veterans, as intended. “By establishing the National Center for Warrior Independence, we will turn the West Los Angeles VAMC campus into a destination where homeless veterans from across the nation can find housing and support on their journey back to self-sufficiency,” Collins said in a statement.

What's next: By 2028, the National Center for Warrior Independence is expected to offer housing and support for up to 6,000 veterans experiencing homelessness, according to the VA...

Source: https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/va-ends-illegal-and-wasteful-leases-on-west-la-campus.

===

It remains unclear whether UCLA's baseball lease will eventually be voided by further litigation or how this matter fits into the larger conflict between UC/UCLA and the feds. The Daily Bruin's account of this story includes a no-comment response from the VA and UCLA regarding the future of the baseball lease: https://dailybruin.com/2026/02/11/va-keeps-jackie-robinson-stadium-lease-terminates-3-other-west-la-agreements.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-lease-part-2.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 258

From Inside Higher Ed: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently rolled out a new policy that permits university officials to record classes without notifying the instructor. It’s a practice administrators have used in the past to investigate professors but have now formalized in writing. According to the policy, administrators may, with the provost and general counsel’s written permission, record classes or access existing recordings without telling faculty in order to “gather evidence in connection with an investigation into alleged violations of university policy” and “for any other lawful purpose, when authorized in writing by the provost and the office of university counsel, who will consult with the chair of the faculty.”

...Students are prohibited from recording in class without explicit permission from the instructor—a practice that has landed professors at other universities in political hot water in recent months...  The formal recording rules have been in the works for a while... 

University leaders—from the systemwide Board of Governors to the provost—have made several decisions in recent months that curb professors’ freedoms in the classroom. UNC system president Peter Hans announced in December that syllabi will be considered public records and that faculty must share them online beginning next fall. A week later, the university decided—with no formal announcement to faculty—to shutter its six area studies centers. At the end of this month, the system Board of Governors will vote on a formal—but contested—definition of academic freedom that states it is “not absolute” and prohibits teaching material “clearly unrelated to the course description.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2026/02/11/unc-admin-can-now-officially-secretly-record.

Ignore the message

If you have an iPhone and a message such as the one above pops up, it isn't a real iPhone warning. Do not click on it. Close whatever application you are using. The pop-up is at best an ad for something and at worst malicious. You don't want to find out, either way.

You can always independently check on whether your storage is low by going to "Settings," then "General," and then "iPhone Storage."

Moral for Future CFOs at UCLA...

Don't give interviews on Friday, the 13th!

More seriously, when you start talking about financial mismanagement and inaccurate past financial reports, bond rating agencies are likely to be listening. Indeed, you are raising potential legal issues with regard to bonds that have already been floated. 

Of course, you are also displeasing those in Murphy Hall who could be said to be responsible for the financial mismanagement that you are alleging. The ultimate rule in any organizational hierarchy is "please your boss."

Fertile Adventures in Artificial Intelligence

I asked Gemini: "According to a Stanford study at

https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj24291/files/media/file/wfh-and-fertility-29-january-2026.pdf  

one couple working from home will produce 0.32 child. How many couples working from home would it take to produce one whole child?"

Answer from Gemini: Based on the study Work from Home and Fertility, it would take approximately 3.125 couples (or 4 couples to ensure at least one "whole" child) to produce one additional child compared to couples where neither partner works from home. Here is the breakdown of that calculation: The study estimates that lifetime fertility is greater by 0.32 children per woman (couple) when both partners work from home (WFH) one or more days per week compared to when neither does. To find the number of couples needed to reach an increase of 1.0 child: 1 \div 0.32 = 3.125. The study notes that this effect is even more pronounced in the United States specifically, where the estimated increase is 0.45 children per woman when both partners WFH. In the U.S. context, it would only take about 2.22 couples working from home to produce one additional child.

Straws in the Wind - Part 257

From Inside Higher Ed: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, a historically Black institution, said it mistakenly objected to its Black Law Students Association using the word “Black” in Black History Month fliers. Law student Aaliyah Steward told Orlando’s News 6 she heard “we couldn’t use the word ‘Black’ in Black History Month; we needed to abbreviate it.” The news broadcast then showed a flier that conformed to this, abbreviating it as “BHM.”

After News 6 broke the story Friday, it reported that the artist SZA and others denounced the censorship on social media. This week, FAMU College of Law interim dean Cecil Howard emailed the college’s community that “the word ‘Black’ is not prohibited” and no such restriction “has been directed by university leadership,” according to a copy of the message that FAMU sent Inside Higher Ed. Howard wrote that the university “quickly engaged a Florida higher education law expert,” who confirmed the word doesn’t violate Florida’s Senate Bill 266...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/10/famu-says-censoring-word-black-was-mistake.