Leonard Kleinrock (front row, yellow shirt) for a tour of
3420 Boelter Hall, the site where Kleinrock and his colleagues
sent the first message over the fledgling internet in 1969*
From the UCLA Newsroom: In 2018, UCLA became the first UC campus to join the Age-Friendly University Global Network, a consortium of higher education institutions dedicated to enhancing the lives of older adults through education, research and community engagement. Since then, university has built a foundation of programs and partnerships based on the network’s 10 guiding principles that help older adults remain active, socially connected and engaged in the university community.
Now, UCLA is taking its commitment a step further by launching a new age-friendly website and establishing a cross-disciplinary task force that will bring together emeriti faculty, staff, retirees and students to promote healthy aging and combat ageism.
“UCLA is uniquely located at the center of one of the most diverse and influential global megacities, where we have the opportunity for active participation in the age-friendly movement,” said Ayesha Dixon, senior director of the UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center. “That includes cross-campus collaborations on equity and inclusion of older adults in the university community, supporting education and wellness initiatives, advancing research on aging and ageism, and fostering intergenerational learning.” ...
From Inside Higher Ed: The University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted... to approve a lengthy definition of what academic freedom does and doesn’t protect throughout the state university system. It says academic freedom includes the right to teach and research “controversial or unpopular ideas related to the discipline or subject matter,” but also says “academic freedom is not absolute.” ...The board approved the definition in a voice vote, with no dissent heard.
The new UNC policy promises many of the same protections found in other descriptions of academic freedom, in addition to the caveat about how “academic freedom is not absolute.” It lists three elements that academic freedom doesn’t include:
“Teaching content that lacks pedagogical connection to the course, discipline, or subject matter.”
“Using university resources for political activity in violation of university policy.”
“Refusing to comply with institutional policies.”
The policy stresses that administrators also share in implementing the university’s mission, including, at times, regulating faculty. It says administrators have the responsibility to ensure “faculty activities align with the university’s mission as established under UNC policy and meet accreditation standards” and to “intervene when faculty conduct violates professional norms, creates a hostile learning environment as defined by policy and law, or undermines the institution’s educational objectives.” ...
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) goes to work after the governor presents his January budget analyzing the key features of the proposal and suggesting alternatives. Basically, in broad terms, the LAO seems upset that UC spending in real terms is rising - which would seem to be the expected result of the legislature's insistence on increasing enrollment. The LAO has never been keen on multiyear "compacts" (even though these are often pushed aside in periods of budget stringency). To save money, it suggests less substitution of residents for out-of-state students (who pay higher tuition). But squeezing out-of-state enrollment to make more spaces for Californians seems to be a major legislative commitment. In any case, LAO seems to want to achieve lower state spending on UC by one means or another.
LAO acknowledges problems UC faces with regard to its conflict with the federal government, but seems to believe that maybe - in the end - the budgetary implication will turn out to be less dire than initially expected.
Excerpt from the LAO report on UC:
Over the Past Ten Years, UC Spending Has Outpaced Inflation. Over this period, core spending grew at an average annual rate of 4.3 percent, compared to inflation growing by 3.3 percent. This faster growth reflects increases both in student enrollment and underlying cost drivers. UC’s largest cost driver is employee compensation, accounting for about 75 percent of UC spending in 2024‑25. Growth in employee compensation has been mostly driven by the expansion of UC’s workforce.
Recommend Reducing or Eliminating Base General Fund Increase. The Governor proposes a $351 million (7 percent) base increase for UC in 2026‑27 and assumes UC generates $273 million in additional tuition revenue. Given the state’s fiscal outlook, the Legislature could provide a smaller base increase aligned with inflation. Alternatively, it could provide no base increase to help manage the structural deficit and reduce pressure for more significant reductions over the coming years. Even without a base increase, UC’s core funding would grow by 3.5 percent.
Recommend Using Available One‑Time Funding to Retire Payment Deferral. In 2025‑26, the state began deferring a $130 million General Fund payment from one fiscal year to the next. If one‑time funding becomes available, we recommend the Legislature make retiring this payment deferral a high priority. Retiring the deferral would return UC’s state payments to their regular schedule, eliminate the associated debt obligation, and reduce state budgetary pressures in the out‑years.
Recommend Removing Out‑Year Commitments. Under the Governor’s budget, the state commits to providing UC with a one‑time back payment of $241 million in 2027‑28, followed by a 3 percent ongoing base increase of $144 million in 2028‑29. We recommend removing these out‑year commitments. The Legislature could determine each year how much support to provide UC in light of overall fiscal conditions and its budget priorities.
Recommend Funding Enrollment in 2026‑27 at Original Target, Separately From Base Increase. The Governor’s budget maintains the original resident undergraduate enrollment target established in the 2025‑26 Budget Act for 2026‑27, a level that UC expects to exceed by more than 3,000 students. Given the projected budget deficits and moderating demographic pressures, we recommend the Legislature maintain the original target set for 2026‑27. We further recommend the Legislature fund enrollment growth separately from, and in addition to, any base increase to enhance transparency and accountability. For 2027‑28, we recommend holding enrollment flat to help UC avoid the potential negative programmatic impacts of adding students without associated funding.
Recommend Pausing the Nonresident Replacement Plan. The Governor’s budget provides $61 million ongoing General Fund to replace a certain number of nonresident students with resident students at three high‑demand campuses. We recommend an alternative that funds the same number of resident students while leaving the number of nonresidents flat. This alternative costs $36 million less than the Governor’s proposal. Given all three high‑demand campuses have added resident students beyond replacing nonresidents the past few years, they appear to have associated physical capacity.
From the NY Times: After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last month that the Pentagon would cut ties with Harvard University over ideological differences, Harvard is trying to create a workaround for students in the military. The Harvard Kennedy School, one of the schools at Harvard attended by service members, is offering to let them defer admission or help them pursue spots at four other institutions if they are accepted to the Kennedy School for the 2026-27 academic year.
Secretary Hegseth announced the Pentagon’s break with Harvard in a video released Feb. 6, in which he called Harvard “one of the red-hot centers of hate-America activism” and accused “too many” military members who graduate from Harvard of developing radical ideologies. Mr. Hegseth, who graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2013 with a master’s degree in public policy, said that he would “discontinue all graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs” between Harvard and his department, beginning with the next academic year...
If they are not allowed to attend, military members accepted this spring to the Kennedy School will be able to defer their admission for up to four years, according to a copy of a letter to applicants...
Officials at four other graduate schools have agreed to give quick consideration to applications from active-duty military members who are accepted to the Kennedy School but who don’t want to put off their education... Those programs are the Harris School at the University of Chicago, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Gerald R. Ford School at the University of Michigan...
UC sponsors SB 895 to place a $23 billion bond to fund scientific research in California on the November ballot
UC Office of the President, March 5, 2026
The $23 billion bond would protect jobs, sustain lifesaving research, improve health and bolster the state’s innovation economy
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OAKLAND – As the University of California faces one of the most significant disruptions to its research enterprise in its 157-year history, UC President James B. Milliken announced today that the University is sponsoring state Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 895, bipartisan legislation that would place a $23 billion bond to fund scientific research across California on the November 2026 ballot. If passed by voters, the measure would be a critical step in preserving research that is central to protecting jobs, sustaining lifesaving medical advancements, supporting the health of communities across the state and maintaining California’s global leadership in innovation.
“University research has been under sustained attack over the past year,” said UC President James B. Milliken. “This bill aims to protect the remarkable advances benefiting millions of Californians now and in the future. We are proud to cosponsor this bill and will always stand up for science.”
SB 895 establishes the California Foundation for Science and Health Research to fund competitive research grants, low-interest loans and modernized research facilities focused on urgent statewide priorities.
“As the federal government upends science funding, California must stand up to defend science and to double down on our state’s global science leadership,” said Sen. Scott Wiener. “Science makes California great in so many ways, from helping cure diseases, to helping prevent climate-driven wildfires, to driving our economy. The UC has been at the center of that scientific leadership for decades, and I’m proud to have its partnership in the fight to take back control of California’s destiny on science funding.”
UC research drives California’s innovation and economy
Scientific research is a cornerstone of California’s economy, serving as the foundation for some of the state’s leading industries. California’s biotechnology industry generated $395.7 billion in total economic output, contributed $125.7 billion in salaries, and supported 1.15 million jobs in 2024.
As the nation’s top public research institution, UC plays a central role in California’s innovation ecosystem. It leads to life-changing solutions that benefit everyone — from the smartphone in your pocket to the food on your plate to the medicine in your cabinet. For every $1 the State of California invests in UC, $21.04 is generated in total economic activity and $14.32 is added in real economic value.
Last year, UC set a new world record for the most Nobel Prizes awarded to one university system in a single year and received the most U.S. utility patents in the world amid global competition, helping keep the nation at the forefront of scientific discovery.
“This measure could help you or someone you love by continuing research in groundbreaking therapies for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and more," said UAW Region 6 Director Mike Miller. "As the federal government slashes research funding across the country, we are proud to come together with Senator Wiener, Assemblymember Solache and the University of California to ensure that California meets the moment.”
Federal funding for research
Funding from the federal government supports tens of thousands of jobs across California and drives breakthroughs in health care, agriculture, climate science, artificial intelligence, national security and more. Unprecedented disruptions at the federal level now threaten that critical work and create significant setbacks for progress and innovation — while putting jobs and educational opportunities at risk.
Pharmaceutical discounts and state support
In addition to support for science, SB 895 includes requirements to make health care more accessible by ensuring California residents receive discounts for pharmaceuticals developed through this research. It also ensures profitable discoveries are reinvested back in California by allowing the state to recoup some licensing and royalty fees from inventions and technologies produced from bond-funded research dollars.
Support for SB 895 is bipartisan and broad-based, from researchers and physicians to legislators throughout the state. The bill is sponsored by United Auto Workers Region 6 and Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), and is joint authored by Senators Sasha Renée Pérez and Aisha Wahab and principal co-authored by Assemblymembers José Luis Solache, Jr., Mike Gipson, Jacqui Irwin, Al Muratsuchi, and Darshana Patel, Ph.D. Thirty-one members of the Legislature are co-authoring the bill to date.
UCLA Health today announced the single largest gift to advance mental health care in its history – $100 million from global philanthropists Stewart and Lynda Resnick, co-owners of Los Angeles–based The Wonderful Company, one of the nation’s largest privately held companies.
The Resnicks’ gift, made possible through their foundation, will help fund the expansion of mental and behavioral health services at UCLA Health and support completion of a new neuropsychiatric hospital and a comprehensive mental health campus. UCLA Health is one of the world’s leading centers for comprehensive patient care, research and education, and the initiative is designed to dramatically increase access to care, strengthen community-based services, and advance research and innovation to address the growing mental health crisis in our community...
From Inside Higher Ed: Three-plus years after the debut of ChatGPT sparked new academic integrity fears, artificial intelligence–enabled tools can do far more than write a student’s research paper. These days, autonomous AI agents can complete entire online courses—and it’s raising questions about the future of teaching and learning. Earlier this week, Advait Paliwal—a 22-year-old tech entrepreneur who dropped out of the computer science master’s program at Brown University in 2024—launched Einstein, an agentic AI tool specifically designed to connect with the popular learning management system Canvas.
“Einstein is an AI with a computer,” the product website explained when it first went live a few days ago. “He logs into Canvas every day, watches lectures, reads essays, writes papers, participates in discussions, and submits your homework—automatically.” Einstein can help with any subject, including math, physics, computer science, history, literature and economics, and even keeps working when students are asleep...
While such promise may be alluring to some overwhelmed or unmotivated students, Einstein’s release this week is intensifying discussion among faculty about policy, pedagogy and the purpose of higher education in the age of agentic AI...
NOTE: After this story was published, Paliwal said he received a cease-and-desist letter from Instructure, which owns Canvas, and has since taken down Einstein’s website.
