And there is this...

The current student-worker strike at various UC campuses probably won't be the only labor-relations issue the Regents will be hearing about when their Health Services Committee meets at UCLA on June 12th. There is also this issue (from the Daily Bruin): 

Around 70 registered nurses and community members rallied near Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on Wednesday morning to protest changes by hospital management to float pool nurse scheduling shifts. Float pool nurses work in multiple units within their specialties and address staffing shortfalls throughout hospitals. Instead of being allowed to schedule their own shifts within a four-week period, float nurses will now be required to work at least one shift per week, said Nicholas Cole, a UCLA registered nurse represented by the California Nurses Association, a union affiliated with National Nurses United.  

Nurses walked in a circle Wednesday morning holding signs that said, “UC, we are not disposable” and “UC, respect your nurses” while chanting, “UC, step off it, put patients over profit.” Several nurses also spoke at the rally, calling on the hospital to allow more schedule flexibility for float nurses. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson from UCLA Health said the organization remains confident in its staffing decisions. “UCLA Health strategically recruits, trains and flexibly deploys nurses consistent with our overriding priority of providing safe, high-quality patient care,” a spokesperson said in the statement. “We value the commitment, compassion and skill of our nurses and are confident in the details of our staffing program.” ...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2024/05/29/nurses-protest-ronald-reagan-ucla-medical-centers-proposed-schedule-changes.

Michelle Deutchman on Free Speech on Campuses and Beyond

Blog readers may recall that back when Janet Napolitano was UC president, she created the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement in response to controversies concerning controversial speakers on campus. The issue then mainly revolved around Berkeley. Post October 7, 2023, the issue developed on all campuses.

The director of the Center, Michelle Deutschman, appeared on C-SPAN recently to discuss recent events and the more general issue.

The program is available at:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?535667-5/michelle-deutchman-free-speech-campuses.

There's only so much juice in a lemon - Part 3

We noted in a prior post that in a distressed budget situation, there's only so much to go around. The more you give to X, the less there is for Y. And UC is definitely part of Y. From Politico:

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s largest teachers union have reached a deal that would provide California schools billions more in future funding and resolve a bristling public feud over the state budget. The agreement, first reported here, comes less than a week after the California Teachers Association released an ad needling Newsom over his education spending proposal — part of an intense campaign to publicly and privately pressure the administration and Legislature not to cut school spending.

The Democratic governor’s previous plan would have lowered the amount of money guaranteed to schools by nearly $12 billion over two years to help close a massive state budget deficit. The new deal promises a more generous calculation of the guarantee, known as Proposition 98, in which the state would pay schools an added $5.5 billion in the future that would be difficult to afford now...

Full story at https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/28/gavin-newsom-teachers-union-budget-deal-00160080.

So, if the Prop 98 world (K-14) gets more from the deal above, there will be less for UC, particularly in this case during the later years where the tattered "compact" with the governor is supposed to be rejuvenated.

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/theres-only-so-much-juice-in-lemon-part.html.

Maybe space isn't the final frontier

As blog readers will know, UCLA bought the Westside Pavillion for a cool $700 million. Yours truly has no particular knowledge of real estate markets, but he did spot this item in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the market for bio-tech office space down there:

San Diego’s world-renowned life science cluster broke a new record at the start of the year: The vacancy rate for lab and office spaces hit 14 percent — an all-time high. Three years ago, businesses were fighting for space in San Diego’s main life science hubs like Sorrento Valley, La Jolla and Del Mar. But now, there are more buildings on the market than local companies want to lease. The area’s overall vacancy rate for life science space jumped to 14.3 percent — up from 5.7 percent during the same period last year, shows first quarter data from commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

A big driver of this trend: Several companies have downsized or left offices completely in recent months. Gene therapy firm Locano Bio, for example, ceased operations and vacated 39,000 square feet of space in Torrey Pines. Then there’s San Diego’s gene-sequencing giant, Illumina, which offloaded its UTC office to save millions of dollars.

More local life science companies are subleasing their unused offices to save money or accommodate a smaller staff following layoffs. There are roughly 1.2 million square feet of available sublease space on the market — almost double what it was this time a year ago, JLL said.

“It’s been significant,” said Taylor DeBerry, senior associate of JLL’s life science group. “We’re tracking about a million square feet of sublease space in the market right now, and that’s a higher number than we’ve ever seen before.

“A lot of that has to do with the over-exuberance and oversubscribing of space that happened during COVID. Companies are needing to pull back because the venture capital market is not as easy to raise money as it was during that time.” ...

Full story at https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2024-05-24/san-diego-life-science-office-leasing-picks-up-to-start-2024-while-rent-continues-to-decline.

Maybe the LA market is totally different. Just wondering...

Strike News - Part 2

Yesterday, the UAW 4811 strike spread to UCLA.

Yours truly gathered up some videos that were tweeted by various observers. You can see them as a compilation at the link below.

As has previously been noted, the union has declared this strike to be an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike which gives it certain legal protections IF the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) sees it that way. UC contends it is a political strike linked to protests related to the Israel-Gaza War and violates the contractual no-strike clauses in the current labor-management contracts.

Much of the video below shows picket signs and actions in keeping with the ULP official legal message. However, someone seems to have gone off-script in the last segment. Eventually, PERB will decide unless some other resolution is reached. If the matter is decided at PERB, social media evidence could be introduced as evidence. Link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXa43IGyfc.

The times they are a'changing - Part 4

From the Free Press email newsletter yesterday:

...Sonny Vaccaro’s “long journey” to get college athletes paid: When I read the news late last week that the NCAA was going to settle a handful of antitrust cases for a staggering $2.8 billion—and that the association and the major college conferences were finally going to be sharing some of their revenue with the athletes who made them all rich—the first thing I did was call Sonny Vaccaro. “It’s been a long journey,” said the 86-year-old Vaccaro. “I always thought the day would come when the players got paid, but I wasn’t sure I would be around to see it.” It’s only right that he is. Because Vaccaro, more than anyone, made this moment possible.

Before he decided to take on the NCAA, Vaccaro marketed basketball shoes; most famously, he convinced Michael Jordan to sign with Nike. (In Air, the movie about that signing, he was played by Matt Damon, an actor the short, bald Vaccaro in no way resembles.) His war on the NCAA began in 2007. As he tells it, he was fed up seeing underprivileged black basketball players “get shafted” (his words) by the NCAA. He had developed close relationships with many of these players, and far too often he’d also seen careers damaged—and even destroyed—by the NCAA. Its essential view was that if a college athlete received anything of value, even a bag of groceries, it was a violation of “amateurism.” And the NCAA was ruthless in punishing even the tiniest infraction. Vaccaro saw amateurism as a sham, disguising the truth that college sports was a multibillion-dollar enterprise built on the backs of an unpaid, mostly black labor force.

At first, Vaccaro mostly spoke to college audiences. It was difficult to persuade people of his point of view because the NCAA had convinced the world that it was the sheriff of college sports, rooting out the rule-breakers. But as more and more money poured into college football and basketball—as coaches made millions and TV contracts got richer—the fact that the athletes who generated all that money were unpaid became too glaring to ignore. Slowly, Vaccaro gained converts—myself very much included. The tide was turning.

The key moment came in 2009 when Vaccaro convinced an attorney named Michael Hausfeld to file an antitrust suit against the NCAA. He also found the plaintiff, Ed O’Bannon, a former UCLA star who was upset that his image was being used in a video game without his permission. The image rights were controlled by the NCAA. Five years later, a judge in California ruled that the NCAA was indeed violating the nation’s antitrust laws. Then, in 2021, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA in a second big antitrust case. The dam had broken.

The current settlement will pay damages to former and current players who were deprived of their chance to make money on their name, image, and likeness—something college athletes have been able to do since that Supreme Court victory.

There is still one last step, though: tossing out the last vestiges of amateurism and paying the players real salaries. For Vaccaro, that’s always been the holy grail. I hope he’s around to see it. 

—Joe Nocera...

Source: https://www.thefp.com/p/i-helped-standing-rock-go-viral-now. [Scroll down.]

Cutting to the Chase on NIL

From time to time, we take note of the ongoing controversies surrounding compensation for student athletes. One of UCLA's athletes made it into the LA Times on that very issue:

Faced with an unfamiliar situation, Chase Griffin relied on natural instincts. He surveyed the scene, felt the pressure and stepped up to face it. Qualities that served him as UCLA’s quarterback came in handy testifying before Congress earlier this year. Only no audible was needed given all the time he had put into preparing his remarks about how these politicians were wrong in their misguided attempt to protect college athletes.

“It is disheartening,” Griffin told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce, “to see a federal bill that ignores our hard work and the value we create by putting obstacles in our pathway to the American dream.” Griffin was speaking out against the FAIR College Sports Act, a proposed bill that would increase regulation of name, image and likeness deals in the name of fairness and transparency. In reality, Griffin felt the bill did nothing more than provide another roadblock to athletes receiving the compensation to which they are entitled.

He felt so strongly about the issue that he paid his own way to take a red-eye flight to Washington, powering his way through just a few hours of sleep to defend athletes’ rights to maximize their NIL dollars. “Frankly,” Griffin recently told The Times, “the bill that we were discussing there, the FAIR Act, wasn’t a good bill and I thought that I had to offer truthfully and experientially my knowledge on what has been and what it can continue to be with unfettered access for college athletes to exercise their NIL rights.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2024-05-24/chase-griffin-ucla-college-athletes-paid-nil.

FYI - DDOS - Part 2

Source: https://x.com/internetarchive/status/1795451463465845141. 

As we noted yesterday, the Internet Archive (archive.org) where we post certain items for this blog has been under a cyberattack. If you find a link from the blog that is not responding, that is the likely reason. If you wait, the problem will eventually be resolved.

Bill Walton, UCLA legend, dies at age 71

From Yahoo Sports: ...Walton, the giant redhead whose basketball prowess at UCLA and in the NBA was surpassed only by his zest for life and all its absurdities, died Monday while surrounded by family after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 71. “The world feels so much heavier now,” fellow legendary Bruins big man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) alongside a picture of the two men smiling with their arms draped across one another. 

"On the court, Bill was a fierce player, but off the court he wasn’t happy unless he did everything he could to make everyone around him happy. He was the best of us.” ...

Full story at https://sports.yahoo.com/bill-walton-ucla-legend-nba-173745492.html.

OJ Igor?

As blog readers will know, we had some fun with the pursuit of "Igor," our stand-in for the club-wielding guys of April 30th.* Now at least one Igor has been arrested. Maybe there will be others. But that arrest leaves open the question of why there weren't arrests at the time when the police finally arrived. Why wasn't Igor arrested then?

Whatever the answer is to that question, there are now some possibilities. One is that Igor's defense counsel will try simply to get his client off with the lightest possible sentence, and do it quietly and out of the limelight. 

But there is also the possibiity - particularly if someone wants to pay for it - of an OJ-type trial in which the simple issue of guilt or innocence is lost amidst a larger "context." (There's that word again!) There could be questions about selective prosecution. There is video evidence of encampment residents engaging in violent conduct before the April 30 clash.** Were any protesters who engaged in such conduct arrested? If not, why not? And there is the larger element that the encampment was declared to be an unlawful assembly. Why were UCLA police not around to intervene? Why didn't the security guards who were around intervene? Who gave orders for what? The UCLA police chief was "suspended," which can be viewed as a tacit admission by UCLA that there was a problem in campus policing. If Igor claims self-defense, what evidence is there against that claim?

One could imagine testimony being required from the soon-to-retire chancellor and other UCLA officials. Since the chancellor - in his congressional testimony - alluded to directives regarding avoiding a police presence coming from UCOP, even President Drake could become involved. 

The defense would go something like, "If UCLA's security wasn't fit, you must acquit."

As in the OJ case, the question of exactly who is on trial could become murky. This case is the stuff that "trials of the century" can be made of - if someone wants to do it. And there is leverage for the defense embedded in that option. It's likely that the legal folks at UCLA and UC are aware of the possibilities. And it's likely that the "strategic communication" folks are also aware.

But then again, maybe it will all go away in a quiet courtroom at some future date with no one paying much attention and no official embarrassment. The attention span of social media is limited to the events de jour. 

===

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/whodunit-maybe-it-was-igor-part-3.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/whodunit-maybe-it-was-igor-part-2.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/whodunit-maybe-it-was-igor.html.

**See the opening segment of:

https://ia600307.us.archive.org/9/items/newsom-4-3-24-snow-survey/UCLA%20Encampment%20Before%20April%2030.mp4. [Video clips from before April 30.]

Someone comes out of the encampment and attacks a counterprotester on April 28. Security guards watch but don't intervene. And there are other such instances.

FYI - DDOS

We store various items - such as recordings of Regents meetings - on the Internet Archive. As per the image above, those links may not work for a time. DDOS = distributed denial-of-service. DDOS is a cybercrime that attempts to make it impossible for a service to be delivered by flooding a server with internet traffic. The goal is to exhaust the target's resources and create a denial-of-service, preventing users from accessing connected online services and sites. (From Google's AI response.)

LAO Analysis Suggests Uncertainties Surrounding May Revise

The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) has issued an analysis of a component of the governor's proposed May Revise budget for 2024-25.* It reinforces the idea that the May Revise itself was a work in progress and contains elements the legislature is likely to find objectionable.

LAO is a creation of the legislature and tends to look after the legislature's influence in setting state policy, including the budget. But the governor is proposing making unallocated cuts in state personnel at his discretion. And he is assuming that unspecified efficiencies will be found. The latter raises the question of why the alleged inefficiencies were allowed to continue until now. And the former takes control away from the legislature.

We have noted that the May Revise summary on higher ed and UC in particular seemed to outline only some of the cuts that the Regents were later told about in more detail, suggesting that the May Revise as initially presented wasn't fully worked out. 

And, as we have emphasized, there is no budget until the legislature enacts one which it has a little over two weeks from now to do. Getting it done is easier in Good Times when the pie is expanding than in the current situation.

===

*https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4903.

Watch the Regents Afternoon Meeting of May 15, 2024

We are catching up with the Regents last general meeting. In earlier posts, we covered the first day and the morning of the second day. In the afternoon of the second day - May 15th - Academic and Student Affairs and Finance and Capital Strategies.

In Academic and Student Affairs, tuition increases were approved for various professional programs. A disruption occurred during that meeting and the room was cleared. There was a presentation on the accomplishments of the UC astronomy program. Not surprisingly, however, much of the discussion revolved around the stalled TMT project on Hawaii. 

Regent Pérez noted that decommissioning of obsolete Hawaiian telescopes was lagging behind promised times. He wanted more progress on that effort. At an earlier meeting when the Canary Island alternative location for TMT was discussed, a witness said that while the Hawaii location was preferable, the alternative would be 90% as good. To someone with a political background such as Pérez, a compromise where you get 90% of what you want sounds pretty good. It's not exactly clear what 90% means in terms of a telescope. But the 90% remark will clearly haunt proponents of the Hawaiian TMT. 

At Finance and Capital Strategies, various capital projects were approved. UCOP's budget was also approved. The state budget was discussed with a more optimistic spin than yours truly thinks is warranted, although some Regents were skeptical. As we have noted, when you add up cuts relative to January's budget proposal and supposed restorations in 2025-26 (very uncertain this far in advance), the base budget is down by more than what appeared in the summary document released by the governor and the Dept. of Finance. 

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention.

You can see both committee meetings at:

https://archive.org/details/regents-5-15-24-pm-academic-and-student-affairs-committee.

What PERB did and didn't do

UC's administration hoped to get the Public Employment Relations Board to find that the UAW strike was a violation of the various union-management contracts' no-strike clauses and effectively enjoin the strike from continuing. That didn't happen.

PERB did issue a complaint on the grounds that the UAW didn't bargain with UC before striking, thus it didn't negotiate in good faith. That is an unfair labor practice.* There is some irony here because UC's position should be that there should be no negotiating due to the no-strike clause. Instead, the union - in UC's view - should file a grievance through the normal grievance-and-arbitration process.

A complaint isn't really a final decision. Rather it is issued because there is some potential merit involved. When a complaint is issued, the charged party (the union in this case) has 20 days to file an answer. But that period already puts the matter into mid-June potentially. It doesn't really help UC get through the spring quarter. And even if the union answers sooner, an actual finding that the union has committed an unfair labor practice (which itself is not guaranteed) could involve a lengthy process.

There is some legal risk to the union if at some point there was a finding that the no-strike clauses were violated and if UC were to pursue the matter. Under some scenarios, UC could pursue the union for monetary damages, citing whatever costs were involved in dealing with the strike.** More at risk is the longer-term climate of labor relations. 

===

*The complaint is at https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SFCO246H_CC1.pdf.

**https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/university-of-california-grad-student-strike-sparks-legal-fight.

Arrest Made in April 30 Attack

CNN is effectively claiming that its report on identifying the attackers led to the arrest of one of them. As we have noted, several news outlets identified participants by name. See the tweet at:

https://x.com/KyungLahCNN/status/1793843875997696202.

The earlier CNN report is at:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/us/ucla-student-protests-counterprotesters-invs/index.html.

Usually, it's a good idea to listen to Mom. But not always, as the CNN report suggests:

...An image from Fox 11 Los Angeles posted on Facebook by Sharon On-Siboni shows her son, Edan On, with a white hoodie throwing an object into the encampment created by pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA. On-Siboni highlighted the image. From Fox 11:

“He is all over the news channels,” his mother wrote in a now-deleted post...

The times they are a'changing - Part 3

From The Athletic (NY Times):

The NCAA and its five power conferences voted to approve terms of a multibillion-dollar settlement to resolve three antitrust lawsuits, paving the way for schools to pay athletes in what would mark a seismic change to the college sports business model.

The settlement includes payments of more than $2.75 billion from the NCAA to former Division I athletes, plus a future revenue-sharing model between power-conference schools and athletes, according to Hagens Berman and Winston & Strawn LLP, the law firms representing the plaintiffs in the three cases, House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA.

The revenue sharing would be an optional model for power-conference programs, potentially as soon as next year, in which 22 percent of those schools’ average annual revenue — projected to be more than $20 million per school — would be distributable directly to athletes.

The damages, made available to D-I athletes dating back to 2016 as back-pay for lost name, image and likeness (NIL) earning opportunities, would be paid out over 10 years via a combination of NCAA reserve funds and reductions in future revenue distributions to conferences.

The next step will be submitting the settlement to Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for preliminary approval, expected to happen within 30-45 days. If finalized, a process that will take several months, the settlement would be the next and most significant overhaul to the long-standing framework of amateurism in college sports...

Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5510354/2024/05/23/house-v-ncaa-settlement-votes/.

To the extent that these developments squeeze revenue left to the various schools, there could be implications for the Regents' recent decision regarding the Berkeley tax on UCLA. As we have been saying about the state budget situation, there's only so much juice in the lemon. Were the Regents aware that this decision was coming when they enacted the tax?

Everybody Goes to Rick's (for Policy Advice)

Casablanca: Everybody goes to Rick's!

You may have seeen the recent memo from AVC Rick Braziel, who was appointed by the chancellor when UCLA Police Chief Thomas was "suspended." Yours truly can't help but notice that current UCLA policy seems remarkably like what the now-suspended recommended should have been the policy at the start of the current turmoil. Timing is everything.

May 24, 2024

The following message was sent from Rick Braziel, UCLA’s associate vice chancellor for campus safety, to the campus community.

Dear Bruin Community:

I am writing with an update on efforts to protect the safety and well-being of our community, as well as our ability to foster an environment in which students, faculty and staff can learn, live and work peacefully. 

Yesterday morning UCPD detectives, with the assistance of local agencies, made their first arrest in the ongoing investigation into the April 30 assaults that occurred on our campus. UCPD is committed to investigating all reported acts of violence and is actively working to identify the other perpetrators of violence associated with protest activities. As Chancellor Block has shared, those who inflicted violence on our community will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

I also would like to provide an update about recent demonstrations on campus.

Yesterday, shortly before 7 a.m., demonstrators arrived on the Kerckhoff patio and began to erect barricades, blocking access to the area and nearby buildings and disrupting regular campus operations. Our Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor, in partnership with my Office of Campus Safety, asked them to disperse immediately. Demonstrators were informed that if they did not disperse, they would face arrest and possible disciplinary action, as well as an order to stay away from campus for seven days. Demonstrators willingly dispersed, and no arrests were made. 

Later, demonstrators arrived at Dodd Hall, barricaded access to the building and committed acts of vandalism. The group was ordered to disperse and, while some demonstrators left, ultimately UCPD cleared the building. 

For future updates on campus disruptions, please refer to Bruins Safe Online. 

UCLA is firmly committed to protecting the free expression rights of everyone in our community, regardless of their views, as long as they follow guidelines for the appropriate time, place and manner of campus demonstrations. These are designed to provide opportunities to gather and demonstrate in ways that do not violate the law, UCLA policy and other community members’ rights. They support advocacy that does not jeopardize safety or disrupt the functioning of the university. 

We will continue to prioritize protecting UCLA faculty, staff and students and creating an environment conducive to teaching, learning, working and living. The campus community belongs to all of us. Let us respect one another’s rights as surely as we want our own rights to be respected.  

Sincerely, 

Rick Braziel

Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety

Source: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/updates-on-campus-safety-and-recent-demonstrations.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... - Part 2

UC was hoping that the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) would quickly intervene in the current student-worker strike and declare it to be in violation of the union-management contracts' no-strike clauses. (There is more than one contract.) It's always a risk to depend on swift action from labor law - but in this case, UC got a relatively swift decision late yesterday. 

The problem for UC is that it is also risky to expect labor law decisions to fix things or to fix things quickly. We don't have the text of the PERB decision but it appears from a description in the LA Times that PERB punted:*

The state labor board late Thursday declined to stop the University of California academic workers’ strike, ruling that a UC complaint did not meet the legal standard required for its intervention. UC officials had claimed that the walkout was illegal and causing such serious harm that it needed to be stopped. The union representing 48,000 academic workers called the strike over alleged free speech violations related to Israel-Hamas protests and other harms to workers...

On Tuesday, the walkout is scheduled expand to UC Davis and UCLA, where academic workers, their supporters and backers of the Palestinian cause rallied on campus Thursday. UC officials had asserted that the labor action was illegal because of a no-strike clause in the union contract and had sought a court injunction from the California Public Employment Relations Board to immediately halt the strike...

The labor board said the university did not meet the threshold required for it to intervene. “The Board presently declines to pursue an injunction as requested by Regents of the University of California (UC), as UC has not established that injunctive relief is ‘just and proper,’” labor officials said. The board left the matter open “in the event it learns of evidence or facts to support a finding that injunctive relief is just and proper.”

The board’s action does not end the legal battle over competing claims before the panel. Labor officials still must deal with unfair labor action complaints from each side. In a statement, UC alluded to this ongoing process, which could end in its favor in the coming days or weeks...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-23/denied-uc-fails-to-get-a-court-order-to-stop-academic-workers-strike-union-hails-decision.

The latest BruinAlert as of this morning:

Campus Activity Updates (May 24th)

Campus has returned to regular operations. Following demonstration activity yesterday, Moore Hall and Dodd Hall are now open and classes will take place in person today. Law enforcement and other security personnel continue to be on campus to help promote safety and actively monitor conditions.

The alerts appear at https://bso.ucla.edu/.

It should be noted finally that PERB decisions apply only to union-management decisions and activities and not to the activities of demonstrators more generally.

===

*It would be nice if UC released the actual texts of its filings with PERB rather than just descriptions of them. The union has posted the actual text of its filings. Technically, these filings are all public documents. Just saying...

The Congressional Hearing

Chancellor Block appeared yesterday before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce's series of hearings on campus antisemitism. Below is a link to his opening statement.* Also at the hearing were the heads of Northwestern (Michael Schill) and Rutgers (Jonathan Holloway). 

Of the three, I would say Schill got the most attention and more of the critical questions. Example: It was noted that Schill was quick to fire a football coach when a fuss was made by alumni but that he emphasized continuing investigations and the need for due process when asked about consequences those involved in an encampment. He was mainly a target for having negotiated a deal with protesters to disband, seeming to promise to discuss some things that were contrary to NWU policy and possibly civil rights laws.

If you were looking for more insight into the questions raised on this blog about decisions that were made at UCLA, who made them, and why, you won't find out more from the hearing than you already know. There was no apology. The written statement, according to the LA Times, indicated that more preparedness would have helped. See:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-23/ucla-gene-block-antisemitism-hearing-live-updates.

If there was blame, it was in effect shifted to UC President Drake's guidelines about not using police, although Drake was not named. But then, the other witnesses were unapologetic, too. 

Note to the Regents' committee searching for a replacement for retiring Chancellor Block: See if you can find someone who will admit to making mistakes without requiring a Congressional hearing. Everyone makes mistakes. But it would be nice to find someone who admits to them and will apologize when they occur. Maybe that quality doesn't generally exist in the world of college presidents, but there might be some exceptions.

Block said that there will be planning for orientation over the summer for incoming students that will emphasize campus rules regarding protests. Particular problems in the med school and a mandatory course are being investigated. He seemed aware of a social media video shown in the Committee of a Jewish student being blocked from a walkway but he had no information about who was involved in the blocking. Block said he called for police during the attack of the guys with bats but had no information about the prolonged delay concerning their arrival or why no arrests have been made.

There was also a question to Block about masks with a citation of a California statute that would seem to restrict mask wearing at demonstrations if some other offense is being committed.** Block mentioned COVID as an exception. But he also noted that COVID recommendations for masks were not in effect.

Block's opening oral statement is at the link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhGiU9FnXF8.

====

*The full hearing is at https://www.youtube.com/live/4bu4eGIDNss. Back up at: https://ia601406.us.archive.org/35/items/a-laugh-a-tear-a-mitzvah/UCLA%20Northwestern%20Rutgers%20at%20House%20Education%20%26%20Workforce.mp4.

**[185.] Section One Hundred and Eighty-five. It shall be unlawful for any person to wear any mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise (whether complete or partial) for the purpose of:

One—Evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of any public offense.

Two—Concealment, flight, or escape, when charged with, arrested for, or convicted of, any public offense. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-7/chapter-8/section-185/.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

While Chancellor Block was in Washington, DC testifying before Congress - we'll post about that tomorrow - a second encampment was forming at UCLA along with other demonstrations.

At this moment, the situation is volatile.

We have gathered some material from social media concerning the days events as of this afternoon. Link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIELIOm8EY.

Like we said and just in time for the Congressional hearing

Blog readers will remember our earlier post.* From the LA Times: UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has been removed from his post and reassigned, officials said, weeks after he faced sharp criticism for security failures that led to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment. 

Rick Braziel, associate vice chancellor who heads the newly created Office of Campus Safety, informed Thomas this week that he would be reassigned while internal and external investigations examine campus security shortfalls that left UCLA students and others involved in the protest encampment to fend for themselves against attackers for three hours before law enforcement moved in to quell the melee.

UCLA Police Captain Gawin Gibson was named interim police chief as of Tuesday, according to Mary Osako, vice chancellor for strategic communications...

Both the police chief and Michael Beck, the administrative vice chancellor who oversaw the police department and Office of Emergency Management at the time, have faced calls for their resignation. Braziel has taken over both of those units as chief safety officer...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-22/ucla-police-chief-reassigned-after-security-failures-over-pro-palestinian-protests.

====

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/05/wondering-who-got-kicked-under-bus-on.html.

====

The Congressional hearing can be seen on YouTube starting at 6:45 AM Pacific Time:

https://www.youtube.com/live/4bu4eGIDNss.

There's only so much juice in a lemon - Part 2

In a prior post, we noted that UC and the higher ed budget is particularly vulnerable during state budget crises. We don't have the equivalent of Prop 98 providing a legal entitlement to a share of the budget. And we don't have the kind of legislative lobbying clout that other recipients of state budget support do. Our compact with the governor goes out the window when fiscal pressures arise. It has happened with previous governors. It is happening now.

We also have a more limited ability to appeal to the voting public during crises. 

Below, for example, is an ad soon to appear on TV by the California Teachers Association:

Or direct to https://ia600307.us.archive.org/9/items/newsom-4-3-24-snow-survey/CTA%20Ad%20Protesting%20May%20revise_Support%20Our%20Teachers_%205-21-24.mp4.

Strike News

From the LA Times: University of California officials are seeking a court order to end immediately a strike by academic workers that is underway at UC Santa Cruz and could spread to others campuses in the system. The request for injunctive relief was filed Tuesday afternoon with the California Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor-management interaction for public employees in the state...

“Allowing the strike to continue will cause the University and its students irreparable harm — UAW members play a critical role in year-end activities like teaching, grading, and ongoing time-sensitive research,” a university statement released Tuesday said.

The academic workers contend that their free speech rights were violated when system leaders called on police to forcibly remove pro-Palestinian encampments at several campuses and activists at UCLA were not protected from a mob attack for hours. Police later moved in to dismantle the UCLA encampment, making about 200 arrests, including some members of the striking union. Demands of union leaders include the protection of free speech on campus, an amnesty for all academic employees, students, student groups, faculty and staff who face disciplinary action or arrest due to participation in protests, and divestment by the university from “weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and companies profiting from Israel’s war on Gaza.”

University officials assert that the strike is unlawful because the goal is “to pressure the University to concede to a list of politically motivated demands closely linked to the protests occurring across California and the nation.” The request for injunctive relief “asks PERB to issue a court order to effectively end the strike,” said Heather Hansen, a spokesperson for the UC office of the president.

UC officials said that they support free speech but that union negotiations “must be tied to terms and conditions of employment and terms in the collective bargaining agreement.” The university also cited no-strikes provisions in the current contract. Union President Rafael Jaime said the university’s latest action was disappointing but not surprising. The union contends that the strike is legal under rules that permit walkouts in response to unfair labor practices. Each side has submitted charges with PERB accusing the other of violating labor rules. The request for an injunction, however, will trigger an expedited process.

“UAW will be given an opportunity to file its opposition papers no later than tomorrow morning — likely before noon,” said J. Felix De La Torre, general counsel for the employment board, referring to a Wednesday deadline. "The Board will then deliberate and likely issue its decision by Thursday.” ...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-21/university-of-california-seeks-injunction-to-immediately-halt-academic-workers-strike.

Comment: A good lawyer will advise a client of the downside risk of any action, likely or not. No one at this point knows for sure what PERB will do. Were PERB to rule against the union's position, there could conceivably be liability on the part of the union. Whether the university would pursue that course of action is another unknown. By picking a relative small campus (without a medical complex), and only one campus, the union has minimized - but not eliminated - that risk.

===

From UC-Santa Cruz as of 10:30 AM this morning (May 22):

UC Santa Cruz will continue with remote instruction on Thursday and Friday.  

8:25 a.m. — Both entrances are open with picketing underway. Motorists should watch for pedestrians and bicyclists. 

7:40 a.m. — The Science & Engineering Library and McHenry Library buildings are open as scheduled.

7:30 a.m. — Both entrances are open with traffic flowing freely. Motorists should drive with caution and watch for pedestrians and bicyclists. 

Source: https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/05/campus-updates.html.

Message from the Chancellor (with - again - no apology)

Security guards staging at Murphy: 5-20-2024

This item below in italics from the chancellor was forwarded to yours truly. He is not sure where one can find it on the UCLA website. A quick search of the UCLA site did not locate it. That's a problem right there. And there is no apology. The message talks about "accountability." But there is only a promise of a report at some unspecified date in the future. And the accountability focuses on a symptom - the thug attack of April 30 - and not the basic cause.*

The basic cause was a decision not to maintain basic rules of civic conduct while providing freedom of speech. Both could have been done. In the end, neither was accomplished. The encampment could have been allowed on the lawn. But obstruction of walkways, of building entrances, graffiti, and similar conduct needed to be prevented. The phrase "mostly peaceful" means sometimes not. When not, by anyone, there has to be intervention. Excuses such as students-could-have-gotten-into-class-by-using-the-backdoor is the equivalent of saying they could ride the bus but have to sit in the back. It is saying that we are so important that everyone else is subordinate.

If there was a decision not to introduce police initially to maintain minimum civic conduct and instead to use private security guards, then the guards should have been empowered to do it, although why untrained private guards should be the ones so-entrusted raises other questions. But once it was clear basic order was not going to be maintained from social media and TV news, you had an open invitation for anyone to come in and do anything. Thus, long before we got to April 30th, a basic mistake was made. Who made it? Why? Mistakes were made BY SOMEONE. They don't make themselves. Even if the mistake is at some point acknowledged, an apology is (over)due.

And there is the related lesser question of whatever happened to the "dialog among differences" or whatever it is called, supposedly subsidized by special funding from UC President Drake? There is a vague reference to dialog in the chancellor's message. The Drake money must have been spent for something. But whatever it was, the funding and the entire effort seems to have fallen into a black hole. Perhaps some future meeting of the Regents' Compliance and Audit committee should follow the money.

The fact that the Legislative Assembly did not pass either of the two condemnations had more to do with the politicization of the vote, to a desire not to further embarrass UCLA, and because the facts regarding decision making by the chancellor had not been heard, than with approval of what the chancellor did or didn't do. Not passing a vote of no confidence isn't a vote of confidence. Not censuring isn't affirmation of conduct.

Below is the chancellor's latest message:

Dear Bruin Community:

The events of the past several weeks have fractured both our sense of community and our sense of security. They have bred anger and mistrust between Bruins, and they have led to marked frustration with how we have administered campus safety at UCLA. I am deeply sorry to see our community in so much pain.

I believe that accountability is critical to moving forward. We are continuing our criminal investigation into those who perpetrated the despicable attack on the Royce Quad encampment on April 30, as well as our review of campus safety protocols to ensure accountability and prevent failures in the future. I know there are many questions, and while we may not have or be able to share all of the answers right now, we are committed to getting you the facts that you seek and deserve. We will learn from what happened — and we will act to better protect our students, faculty and staff. UCLA can only fulfill its mission as a place of learning, debate and growth if those in our community feel safe.

This week, I will be testifying before a Congressional committee focused on the topic of antisemitism on college campuses. I will speak honestly, and personally, about the challenges UCLA faces and the impact of this pernicious form of hate. I will continue to insist that antisemitism – as well as Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate and any form of bigotry, hostility or discrimination – is antithetical to our values, corrosive to our community and not to be tolerated.

UCLA faces complex, interrelated challenges related to protecting community safety and well-being, protecting Bruins from discrimination and harassment, and protecting free expression rights. In my final few months as chancellor, I am dedicated to doing all I can to address these challenges and help shepherd the process of rebuilding trust and dialogue within our community. This includes ongoing discussions with student and faculty leaders of all perspectives, with the aim of ensuring our campus can be a place where advocacy does not lead to antagonism.

Our university has and will continue to grapple with significant issues. But I hope that in the months ahead we will be able to start on the path towards healing — and once again come to see, respect and interact with one another as friends and colleagues in our incredibly important shared academic community.

Sincerely,

Gene D. Block

Chancellor

=====

*It is worth noting that as of yet, no arrests have been made of individuals involved in the April 30th attacks. As noted in prior posts, there have been news media interviews with people who seem to have been involved and who are identified by name. It remains unclear how it could be that when the police finally arrived, no arrests were made at that time. It remains unclear how, despite the bragging about the high-tech methods that were going to be used to identify the culprits, no arrests have been made using those techniques. If the chancellor really believes that the central question is about April 30, how is any of this possible? Or does he in fact understand that who-did-it is a sideshow to the underlying story?

All Purpose Conference

Every once in awhile, yours truly gets email invitations, such as the one above, to conferences he has never heard of. This one says I can not only be a speaker or a delegate (?) or an OCM member (??), I can be the keynote speaker! Poking around on the web, however, it turns out it would cost me a pretty penny to do any of these things. What a surprise!

Strike Guidance from the Academic Senate

So far, the UAW strike has been confined to the UC-Santa Cruz campus. Nevertheless, the UCLA Academic Senate has issued guidance to faculty.

Strike guidance from an email circulated late Tuesday afternoon (May 21) by the UCLA Academic Senate:

To: Academic Senate Faculty

Dear Colleagues:

We are writing to update Senate faculty on issues related to a possible UAW strike at UCLA. The strike has been authorized by academic workers in UAW Local 4811, which includes: 1) Academic Student Employees (TAs and similar); 2) Postdoctoral Scholars; 3) Academic Researchers (Specialists/Project Scientists/Professional Researchers); and 4) Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs, including some on training grants and external fellowships). The Academic Senate and faculty are not involved in the dispute between the University of California Administration and UAW 4811.

This is a “stand-up” strike, meaning that campuses may strike at different times. The systemwide Academic Senate Chair and Vice Chair have issued strike guidance to the UC faculty, including five FAQs.* If you are interested in further information about the claims of the UAW and the University administration, please see FAQ number one on the UC Academic Council Chairs Faculty Strike Guidance.*

The Academic Senate, in advancing the academic mission of teaching, research and service, supports the learning and well-being of all students, graduate and undergraduate. Graduate students play an essential role in teaching at the University of California and, along with postdocs and staff researchers, are essential to the research mission. We also support our fellow Senate members as we all navigate a strike that affects both teaching and research.

It is imperative that faculty have flexibility in how they respond to a strike. As stated by the systemwide Academic Senate leadership, “Faculty members cannot be required to take on additional responsibilities for teaching related to a work stoppage.”

For faculty who ask how to manage disruption to their courses, there is no one-size-fits-all response given the diversity of instruction on our campus. Faculty possess customary discretion and autonomy to adapt their courses to strike circumstances while honoring Academic Senate regulations. At this time, changes to those regulations have not been made for final exams, but we are prepared to address this quickly if needed. Striking students are expected to continue to make academic progress. We urge you to communicate with enrolled students about change and continuity in your courses.

The Faculty Code of Conduct (APM – 015) observes that “The integrity of the faculty-student relationship is the foundation of the University’s educational mission.” It also states that a “significant failure to adhere, without legitimate reason, to the rules of the faculty in the conduct of courses, to meet class, to keep office hours, or to hold examinations as scheduled” constitutes “unacceptable conduct” by a Senate faculty member. How we, as instructors, maintain the multiplicity of faculty-student relationships and our obligations under strike conditions will vary.

About these and other strike-related matters, we welcome your input. We will keep you informed of any developments in the divisional or systemwide Academic Senate.

This is a difficult time at UCLA and in higher education and we are grateful for your commitment to our students and colleagues and to the academic mission.

Andrea M. Kasko

Chair, Academic Senate

Kathy Bawn

Vice Chair/Chair Elect, UCLA Academic Senate

Jessica Cattelino

Immediate Past Chair, UCLA Academic Senate

Brooke Scelza

Chair, Graduate Council

Catherine Sugar

Chair, Undergraduate Council

====

*https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/js-sc-faculty-strike-guidance.pdf.

All we know about the Santa Cruz Strike as of 9:45 AM today

Tweet from the union (image shown) at https://x.com/uaw_4811/status/1792577161515167769.

General union X account at 

https://x.com/uaw_4811.

====

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinal, something over 1,000 student-workers and researchers went on strike yesterday:

https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2024/05/20/uc-santa-cruz-academic-workers-stage-strike-over-uc-protest-response/.

====

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

9:00 a.m. - Student Health Services will open as scheduled at 9:30 a.m.

8:20 a.m. — Picketing is underway at the main entrance. Drivers should exercise caution and watch for pedestrians. Traffic flowing freely at both entrances. 

8 a.m. — Dining halls and libraries have opened as scheduled. 

7:30 a.m. — Traffic continues to flow through the main entrance and west entrance. Motorists should drive with caution and watch for pedestrians. 

6:30 a.m. — Both entrances are open with traffic flowing freely. Remote instruction today and Wednesday. 

Monday, May 20, 2024

8:30 p.m. — The main entrance has reopened. 

6:15 p.m. — Given today’s disruptions and the possibility of more challenges in the coming days, UC Santa Cruz is switching to remote instruction Tuesday and Wednesday. Read more. 

4:49 p.m. — The Bay and High street intersection is open, though the entrance to the main campus remains closed. 

3:14 p.m. — The intersection at Bay and High streets remains blocked by demonstrators with traffic diversions in place. Motorists should drive with extra caution and anticipate delays. 

1:37 p.m. — Demonstrators are in the intersection of Bay and High streets with detours in place. Drivers should exercise additional caution, watch for pedestrians, and expect delays. 

12:35 p.m. — Demonstrators are blocking the main entrance. Avoid the area and use the west entrance. Drive with caution and anticipate delays.

11:45 a.m. — Campus Transit shuttles are providing modified Loop route service from Cook House (Lot 117A at the base of campus) to West Remote. METRO is currently not operating on campus, and dropping all passengers at the Barn Theatre on High Street. TAPS will continue to provide DVS Service to the extent possible. Strike-related disruptions may result in delays.

11:30 a.m. — Traffic flowing freely at both entrances. Picketing underway at main entrance. Motorists should drive with caution. 

10:40 a.m. — Picketing continues at the main entrance. Motorists should drive with additional caution and watch for pedestrians. 

10 a.m. — Afternoon classes to be delivered through remote instruction. 

9:30 a.m. — Picketing is underway at the main entrance with traffic flowing freely. Motorists should drive with caution and anticipate traffic contestion. The west entrance remains open as well. 

8:20 a.m. — The McHenry Library and Science & Engineering Library will expected to open at 11 a.m. 

7:35 a.m. — Morning classes delivered through remote instruction. 

7 a.m. — The main and west entrances to campus have reopened. Employees who do not need to be on-site should work remotely. Those who must be onsite should check with their manager. An update about instruction will be shared soon. Dining halls will open on time at 7 a.m.

6:30 a.m. — The main and west entrances are currently blocked. Avoid driving on campus. More information will be shared with the campus community soon. 

Source: https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/05/campus-updates.html.

====

Update about campus disruptions

To: UC Santa Cruz Community

From: Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer

May 20, 2024

Dear Campus Community,

Today, some students and employees blocked both roads on campus and the campus entrance, preventing access to campus and requiring transition to remote work and learning. In anticipation of additional disruption and after consultation with the Academic Senate, we have made the difficult decision to transition to remote instruction for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as well. Employees who are required to work in person should consult with their managers and those who are able to work remotely are encouraged to do so.

The initial disruption to campus roads early this morning was caused by a small group that appeared to be students who left the road when directed to do so by campus police. Today also marked the first day of a strike called by the UAW with demands similar to those we have seen from encampments across the UC system. While the systemwide strike is not based on any action that occurred at UC Santa Cruz, UAW leaders called for the action to start at our campus. There was extensive labor activity at the main entrance of campus today. These groups appeared to come together and blocked the public road adjacent to campus for a significant period of time today.

The University of California Office of the President, which negotiates and approves most labor contracts for all of the UC campuses, views this labor work stoppage as unlawful and in violation of the terms of the collective bargaining agreements between the parties. The collective bargaining agreements prohibit strikes, work stoppages, and any other concerted activities that interfere directly or indirectly with university operations during the life of the current collective bargaining agreements.

The encampment that was previously in the Quarry Plaza has moved to an area near the Barn Theater adjacent to the busy intersection at the entrance of our campus. We have directed those at the encampment to disband this second unlawful encampment. Failure to do so may result in discipline.

As a community, we rely on one another to promote the safety and inclusion of others. Blocking the main entrance of our campus hurts our most vulnerable community members, limiting access to those who receive medical care, childcare, and food on our campus and excluding those without the ability to walk or bike up the hill. Lawful labor activity does not include road blockages. Free speech is the right of everyone on our campus, but again, that right does not include the ability to block the road. Blocking access to the campus or roadways may also result in disciplinary action.

Though we will be providing remote instruction on Tuesday and Wednesday, core operations on our campus are expected to continue. Dining halls opened on schedule today and have remained open. The Student Health Center is open, and both campus libraries are open. Campus transit is operating modified loop service at this time, and is prioritizing disability van service. When there is picketing at the base of campus, Metro buses do not enter the residential campus, and instead drop riders off near the base of campus, then return to their regular routes.

We understand that changes to work and class schedules can be extremely frustrating for everyone involved. We are undertaking these changes to support the safety of all in our campus community. And at the same time we are taking the necessary actions to address any violations of conduct, policies and laws.

Sincerely,

Cindy and Lori

Cynthia Larive, Chancellor

Lori Kletzer, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Source: https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/05/update-campus-disruptions.html.

Creation of UC-Santa Cruz

The late Kevin Starr, shown above, wrote a series of popular histories of California. In Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963, pp. 242-244, he describes the early years of UC-Santa Cruz. That section seems timely:

Apologies for the crude scanning.

Forgotten?

The Legislative Analyst's Office has come out with its comments on the governor's May Revise budget.* A lot of the report involves a different arrangement of the basic figures rather than a fundamental disagreement. There is, as might be expected, some discussion of the governor's proposal as it interacts with Prop 98 that sets funding for K-14 by formula.

Other lines of the budget are also discussed. But there is nothing about higher ed or the UC budget. Does this mean LAO is happy with the governor's proposal as it affects UC? Does LAO even have the full facts with which to agree or disagree? As we have noted, what is on the Dept. of Finance website doesn't seem to accord with what the Regents were given.

Maybe it just means that given the larger fiscal turmoil, we are basically forgotten.

===

*https://lao.ca.gov/reports/2024/4902/Initial-Comments-May-Revision-051724.pdf.

And there is this from the Regents...

UC Board of Regents statement on conduct guidelines issued by UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D.

UC Office of the President May 16, 2024

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-board-regents-statement-conduct-guidelines-issued-uc-president-michael-v-drake-md

The University of California Board of Regents today endorsed the guidelines issued on May 9 by President Michael V. Drake, M.D.*

These guidelines included the following language: 

Any member of the university community who is arrested for unlawful behavior or cited for a violation of university policy must go through the applicable review process, such as student code of conduct or employee disciplinary process. 

The Regents further affirmed that amnesty for students, faculty and staff is inconsistent with this guideline.

====

*University of California campus guidelines on determining disciplinary actions

UC Office of the President, May 9, 2024

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-campus-guidelines-determining-disciplinary-actions

The University of California Office of the President announced today (Thursday, May 9, 2024) guiding principles for use by UC campuses in determining disciplinary actions:

- UC campuses support and protect nonviolent and lawful protests. We do all we can within the law to facilitate freedom of expression and a vibrant exchange of ideas, while also maintaining a safe environment and access to university facilities for all members of our community.

- All members of the UC community remain subject to all applicable laws and relevant codes of conduct, even while engaging in protest activities. 

- Any member of the university community who is arrested for unlawful behavior or cited for a violation of university policy must go through the applicable review process, such as student code of conduct or employee disciplinary process.

- UC community members found to violate university policy or campus codes of conduct will be held accountable in a manner appropriate to the situation and consistent with campus processes. 

- People not affiliated with the university who are involved in criminal activity on UC campuses will be prosecuted by the appropriate agencies in the relevant jurisdictions.

Closed Regents Meeting Today

A special committee of the Regents is meeting this afternoon to select a new student Regent. Because the meeting is closed, there are no public comments. This is a good time for a reminder as to why there is a student regent, an alumni regent, but no faculty Regent. Back in the day, there was authorization for a faculty Regent. The Academic Senate turned down that opportunity and opted for a faculty representative with no voting power. While it's true that regental policies are seldom decided by one vote, perhaps it is time to reconsider this position.

There's only so much juice in a lemon

We will get to reporting on the Regents and what they heard about the state budget last week as time permits. Rest assured that we have - as always - preserved the recordings indefinitely. (And we have already reported on the first day and a half.)

The key issue in some sense is what happens to the non-higher ed and non-UC parts of the budget. The biggest chunk is controlled by Prop 98 as amended for K-14. In the governor's May Revise, the Prop 98 world accounts for over 40% of the total general fund. And that includes a diddling with the details of Prop 98.

Suffice it to say that the influential California Teachers Association is opposing the diddling and is pushing for "more."*

There are other parts of the budget that are not mandated by formula but are subject to constraints. At the end of the day, the judicial system produces a certain number of state prisoners. Squeeze too hard on that piece of the budget and there will be federal court decisions requiring minimum expenditures on constitutional grounds.

What all is said and done, the legislature sees UC as one of more vulnerable parts of the state budget. The Regents can raise tuition if state allocations are squeezed. The prisons can't. And the nice part, politically, is that the Regents get the blame. No one wants to say that. Yours truly just did.

===

*https://apnews.com/article/california-budget-deficit-schools-newsom-teachers-union-e8de3476bfdec82f916b54223d9bf061.