The Absent Word

At their upcoming meetings, the Regents will be hearing a presentation - actually a series of presentations - on "UC Inspires: Celebrating America’s 250th and UC's Contributions to the Nation." The reports highlight UC's connections with the VA, medical and scientific developments, contributions to agriculture, and economic importance.

Yours truly did a search on the source document attached to the Regents' agenda and noted that the word "diversity" appears nowhere within it.* The closest it comes to that once-popular word is a highlighting of access to first generation college students.

Just an observation...

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*https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july26/board7.14.pdf.

Delivery?

UCLA and many other campuses were served by robot delivery of food through a company known as Starship Technologies. But at the end of the spring quarter, Starship decided to pull out of the college delivery market and concentrate in other areas. ASUCLA announced the end of Starship deliveries as of June 11.* An article about the halt to all colleges by Starship also appeared.**

There is another company, Coco, reported to be a UCLA start-up, providing robot delivery in the LA area. Both companies apparently service UCLA from Westwood restaurants. It is unclear what ASUCLA will do about robot delivery now that Starship has pulled out.

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*https://www.asucla.ucla.edu/ucla/starship-robots.

**https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/delivery-robots-leave-college.

Straws in the Wind - Part 400

From Mississippi Today: Mississippi financial aid officials say almost 27,000 college students could receive less state financial aid for the spring semester in 2027, and a student loan repayment program for teachers will not make awards this fiscal year, because of a budget shortfall. The Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid needs $7.3 million more to account for growing demand for its college aid programs. The funding gap could force the financial aid office to cut programs that help low-income students, as well as hundreds of foster youths and future teachers pay, for college. 

In 2025, Mississippi financial aid officials expanded eligibility for state aid programs, reducing the number of credit hours required for students to be considered full time from 15 to 12. As a result, 4,520 more students qualified for state-funded grants. State lawmakers also raised the income eligibility for the Higher Education Legislative Plan, or HELP, the state’s only need-based grant that covers up to four years of college, from $39,500 to $42,500. Demand for state aid has risen faster than anticipated, said Jennifer Rogers, executive director of the state aid office...

Full story at https://mississippitoday.org/2026/06/29/mississippi-state-aid-shortfall/.

Where are the numbers?

A recent article in the Daily Bruin reports on layoffs in campus IT services, purportedly linked to budgetary pressures.* The individuals involved are represented by UPTE-CWA and the union has raised some issues regarding contractual layoff procedures - which presumably can be adjudicated through the grievance process. The layoffs reportedly are also linked to the "One IT" initiative which aims to centralize IT functions, in part for cybersecurity reasons. 

That centralization project is a topic in itself, but to the extent that budget concerns are part of the motivation, the layoffs should serve as a reminder that we finished fiscal year 2025-26 as of June 30th. That fact, in turn, should jog memories of past budget-related events, notably the sacking of UCLA's CFO after he released a forecast for the now-finished fiscal year and said that prior budgetary releases by UCLA were garbage, a Very Bad Thing to say.

Since the 2025-26 fiscal year is now behind us, it is reasonable to ask when we will see an accounting for that year. We have raised questions in the past about the ability of Murphy Hall to produce such numbers on a speedy basis. We have noted that a very big chunk of the UCLA budget is found in the the health enterprise, which seems to be relatively autonomous and whose numbers may not in fact be readily available to the folks in Murphy Hall.

But all this is outside speculation, albeit based on past performance. Murphy Hall could prove us wrong by simply producing a basic income statement and balance sheet for fiscal 2025-26. Presumably, in this age of computers and AI, that should now be a routine task. Unless, of course, it isn't. 

So, where are the numbers?

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*https://dailybruin.com/2026/07/08/ucla-cuts-27-dts-jobs-amid-budget-deficit-upte-cwa-9119-alleges-contract-violation.

Potential New Construction in Westwood

From the Daily Bruin: A California law that took effect Wednesday could bring more high-density housing to Westwood by loosening development restrictions around major transit stops. California Senate Bill 79, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, overrides local zoning rules for residential, mixed, or commercial properties to allow for high-density residential development near transit stations. The law identifies different transit stops across the state – either labeled as Tier 1 or Tier 2 – as locations for development...

Tier 1 stops connect to heavy rail transit or very high-frequency commuter rail, and are thus afforded more development rights. Tier 1 developments can reach heights up to 75 feet and densities between 100 and 120 units per acre. Tier 2 stops are served by light rail transit, high-frequency commuter rail, or bus services. Tier 2 projects are allowed heights up to 65 feet and densities ranging from 80 to 100 units per acre. Two Tier 1 transit stations near UCLA, which are part of the LA Metro D Line and are set to open in 2027, qualify under SB 79, according to a June map from the Southern California Association of Governments...

From the Daily Bruin: A California law that took effect Wednesday could bring more high-density housing to Westwood by loosening development restrictions around major transit stops. California Senate Bill 79, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, overrides local zoning rules for residential, mixed, or commercial properties to allow for high-density residential development near transit stations. The law identifies different transit stops across the state – either labeled as Tier 1 or Tier 2 – as locations for development...

Tier 1 stops connect to heavy rail transit or very high-frequency commuter rail, and are thus afforded more development rights. Tier 1 developments can reach heights up to 75 feet and densities between 100 and 120 units per acre. Tier 2 stops are served by light rail transit, high-frequency commuter rail, or bus services. Tier 2 projects are allowed heights up to 65 feet and densities ranging from 80 to 100 units per acre. Two Tier 1 transit stations near UCLA, which are part of the LA Metro D Line and are set to open in 2027, qualify under SB 79, according to a June map from the Southern California Association of Governments...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/07/04/sb-79-takes-effect-paving-the-way-for-more-high-density-housing-in-westwood.

Straws in the Wind - Part 399

From the Yale Daily News: A report that Yale is seeking to settle with the federal government has drawn an array of calls, including from a Connecticut senator, for the University to resist the most direct political pressure it has yet received during President Donald Trump’s second term. The New York Times reported... that, according to anonymous sources, a Department of Justice investigation that deemed the Yale School of Medicine’s practices discriminatory against white and Asian applicants had expanded to probe undergraduate and law school admissions. The federal inquiry, which came in light of a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious admissions, has prompted Yale to propose a settlement with the Trump administration and hire external counsel, according to the report...

Formed last spring, Stand Up For Yale emerged as Yale and its peer institutions navigated increased scrutiny under the second Trump administration. The group encouraged alumni to advocate against the endowment tax hike that ultimately passed last July and which will subject Yale’s endowment returns to an 8 percent tax rate beginning on Wednesday. The hike is estimated to cost the University around $300 million per year. The DOJ investigation marks the most intense individualized pressure that Yale has received amid the second Trump administration’s sweeping pressure campaign against elite institutions. The University has thus far been spared from the targeted funding freezes that have pushed many of its peer institutions to cut deals with the government...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/blumenthal-among-alumni-urging-yale-to-resist-amid-reported-trump-talks.

Yale Deal - Part 3

From the Yale Daily News: University President Maurie McInnis has emailed top Yale College Council leaders in response to backlash against reported settlement negotiations between Yale and the Trump administration, YCC President Alex William Chen ’28 told the News on Tuesday. McInnis’ email to Chen and YCC Vice President Michelle Jimenez ’28 marks her first reported response to a series of public campaigns that have mounted after The New York Times reported last month that Yale is negotiating a settlement with the federal government. The negotiations come after the Justice Department expanded its investigation into Yale’s undergraduate and law school admissions, the Times reported. Chen declined to comment on the content of McInnis’ emailed message, citing that he needed to “look through it a little more carefully.”

...The alumni group Stand Up For Yale has created a petition urging McInnis, Provost Scott Strobel and the trustees to publicly commit that Yale will not enter into any deal with the federal government that compromises its diversity or independence. The group sent the administration a copy of the letter on Monday afternoon with about 2,770 signatories, organizer Jessica Marsden ’08 LAW ’14 wrote in an email to the News, but as of Tuesday evening, the group had not received a response. The petition remains open and had reached 3,790 signatures, including current students, as of Tuesday night.

...Yale spokesperson Karen Peart wrote in an email to the News that it is “Yale’s longstanding practice not to discuss the specifics of any ongoing legal matter.” The comment came in response to the News’ inquiry before the phone banking event on Tuesday about the pushback on the reported negotiations. Peart emphasized the University’s “commitment to students’ free expression, academic freedom, and Yale’s ability to determine who is admitted in accordance with the law,” and wrote that Yale is “committed to supporting the members of our community in their beliefs and values.” She did not confirm or deny Yale’s reported negotiations with the Trump administration...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/mcinnis-emails-ycc-heads-chen-says-as-reported-trump-talks-face-backlash.