TMT Talk

Every now and then, yours truly checks the web to see if anything is happening regarding the long-stalled Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project which may - someday - be built in Hawaii, or maybe in the Canary Islands as a second-best location, or maybe not at all. As blog readers will know, it was planned for Mauna Kea where other telescopes exist, eventually given legal OK, and then was blocked by native Hawaiian objections and protests.

The issue sometimes comes up at the Regents, usually in public comments, since UC would have a connection to the project, should it ever be built. I found the item below from mid-January which suggests there will be a lot of discussion and probably no actual construction:

From HawaiiNewsNow: The Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority began a series of statewide workshops... as it prepares to take over management of the mountain... The 12-member state board, looking for feedback, was established in 2022, in part because of the protests that blocked construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at Mauna Kea’s summit. The authority will assume full responsibility for the summit in two and a half years...

Some Native Hawaiians came to the workshop with a mix of skepticism and optimism, including Sparky Rodrigues, who stayed on Mauna Kea for six months... Even those who may not accept the state’s authority appear willing to be part of the process... Everything the board hears in this series of meetings will be used to create policies that reflect the will of the people, a collective effort to solve some of Hawaii’s most divisive issues...

Full story at https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/01/16/mauna-kea-oversight-board-begins-series-workshops-mountains-future/.

As you can see, TMT is not explicitly mentioned. There is just an oblique reference to "divisive issues."

Straws in the Wind - Part 259

From Inside Higher Ed: The University of Texas at Austin will fold its gender studies and ethnic studies programs into a new department this September, The Austin American-Statesman reported. The newly established Department for Social and Cultural Analysis Studies will comprise African and African diaspora studies; Mexican American and Latina/o studies; women’s, gender and sexuality studies; and American studies.

In a meeting with the affected department chairs Thursday, Interim Dean David Sosa did not announce any immediate firings, faculty told the Statesman, nor did he discuss potential future layoffs... Earlier this month, Texas A&M University abruptly shuttered its women’s and gender studies program to comply with board policies that limit discussion of race and gender. The efforts are part of a broader trend in red states to curb what conservative politicians see as “woke” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/13/ut-austin-folds-gender-ethnic-studies-single-department.

From Inside Higher Ed: In statehouses, bill titles rarely tell the full story of what’s in them, and the legislation itself can contain seemingly unrelated provisions. This trend is playing out right now in Kansas, where Republicans are using a budget bill to move forward a host of nonfinancial public higher ed measures that have worried faculty and could mean millions in cuts for public universities. But Republicans, who control both chambers, appear undeterred. The state’s Democratic governor signed a budget bill into law last year that directed colleges to eliminate positions and activities related to “diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Among other provisions, this year’s legislation, called House Bill 2434, contains a mechanism—with garbled wording—that’s apparently intended to withhold $2 million from each of the state’s six public universities until they prove to the State Finance Council that they don’t “require or constrain students to enroll in a DEI-CRT-related course” to earn a degree...

The nearly 400-page budget legislation also says that, at each of the public universities, “any tenured faculty member who is placed on a one-year improvement plan during fiscal year 2027 and does not satisfactorily complete” it “is subject to dismissal, reassignment or other personnel actions as determined by the provost.” Explicitly, professors won’t be allowed to receive a second year to improve...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/diversity/2026/02/18/kansas-may-cut-millions-colleges-dei-gen-ed.

My unbelievable luck!

And, they called me three times from three different phone numbers to tell me the good news. In fact, they were so anxious to reach me that they spelled Paul Smurl's name incorrectly:

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."