Weekly Record

We continue with our weekly summary by Claude of the prior week's blog postings:

October 25, 2026

Another Problem to Solve - Part 2 – From the Daily Californian: UC Berkeley mathematician and Fields Medalist Richard Borcherds reacts to OpenAI's claimed solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, saying AI already outdoes beginning grad students at math and arrived about a decade sooner than he expected. The blogger ties it to his October 21 post on UCLA's Terence Tao.

Straws in the Wind - Part 505 – From the Brown Daily Herald: Brown doesn't use third-party AI-detection tools on admissions essays because of accuracy concerns, instead watching for "dramatic inconsistencies" and following the Common App's AI policy. No added comment.

More are eligible – From the Daily Bruin: half-time-or-more students at UC, CSU and community colleges now automatically meet some CalFresh eligibility requirements, with benefits up to $306 a month; students on larger meal plans stay ineligible, and UC CalFresh participation has more than quadrupled in 15 years. No added comment.

Weekly Record – The blog's weekly recap of the October 18–24 postings, prepared by Claude at the blogger's request; he notes the weekly summaries will continue.

October 26, 2026

Side by Side (Active Employees) – Using UCnet data, compares 2026 and 2027 UC health premiums for active employees across salary tiers, with increases ranging from 9.5% to 29.3% depending on plan and tier. The blogger contrasts this with 3–4% general inflation: "Enough said."

Side by Side (Non-Medicare Emeriti/Retirees) – UCnet comparison of 2026 vs. 2027 premiums for retirees not yet on Medicare. The blogger finds a more mixed picture than for actives, with some decreases or freezes, and notes most in this group likely retired before 65.

Side by Side (Emeriti/Retirees - All in Medicare) – UCnet comparison of 2026 vs. 2027 premiums for all-Medicare retiree households. The blogger notes the increases vary (some are zero) and that federal Medicare premiums may also be rising.

Side by Wide (Medicare-Eligible – One or More Family Members Not Medicare-Eligible) – UCnet premium tables for mixed Medicare/non-Medicare retiree families. The blogger observes larger increases when some family members aren't on Medicare, with no explanation offered and no data on how many people fall in each category.

Recommended – The blogger recommends visiting the state privacy site privacy.ca.gov, saying he's unsure how effective it will be but it's worth a try.

Straws in the Wind - Part 506 – From the Yale Daily News: Yale College is drawing on reserves for the first time in four years to cover $26 million in endowment-tax costs after the tax rose more than fivefold in July. No added comment.

Where the money is - Part 3 – From the Daily Bruin: the UCLA-affiliated Terasaki Institute and partners won up to $19.8 million from ARPA-H for "Prometheus," a project to bioengineer functional livers. No added comment.

October 27, 2026

Cash in the Bank – Drawing on a Legislative Analyst's Office report, explains that California's cash balance is about $90 billion, down from a 2024 peak over $100 billion, with much of it in special funds; the LAO advises treating cash borrowing as a last resort. The blogger stresses that much of the cash is earmarked.

Straws in the Wind - Part 507 – From the Daily Pennsylvanian: emeritus Penn professor Carolyn Marvin was arrested after repeatedly blocking an Uber Eats delivery robot, calling it a First Amendment protest. No added comment.

No Hastings - Part 3 – From the San Francisco Chronicle: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Hastings descendants' challenge to removing Serranus Hastings's name from UC's San Francisco law school. The blogger says this "appears to be the end of the line."

October 28, 2026

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 208 – From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Law School raised a record $135 million in FY2026, boosted by a $31.4 million gift from Morgan Chu, up from about $73 million the prior year. No added comment.

Wayback – Citing an essay in The Atlantic, the blogger laments that some news publishers are blocking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to thwart AI training, noting he relies on it to preserve Regents meetings and UCLA budget documents and that the public record is what suffers.

Straws in the Wind - Part 508 – From the Chronicle of Higher Education: the 2025 Survey of Earned Doctorates shows humanities PhDs down about 20% since 2015, social sciences down about 3%, and total doctorates up 8%. No added comment.

Slipping – Charts and a link to an EdSource story reporting that the math failure rate among UC freshmen has doubled. No added comment.

Trellix Departing - CrowdStrike Arriving – Reprints a UCLA memo announcing that Trellix endpoint security will be retired by May 2027 in favor of CrowdStrike, with a recap of earlier faculty and Senate privacy and governance objections. The blogger highlights the memo's assurance that CrowdStrike is not meant to monitor work and points to older posts on the dispute.

October 29, 2026

Expansion – From the Los Angeles Times: UCLA Health is expanding amid ER crowding, may need up to 400 more beds, and could acquire another hospital. The blogger argues the growth also strengthens UCLA's bargaining position with the region's few big insurers.

Straws in the Wind - Part 509 – From Inside Higher Ed: the DOJ found Ohio State's medical school discriminated in admissions, treating a socioeconomic scale developed at UC Davis's medical school as a proxy for race. No added comment.

Market Opportunity – Shows a Facebook ad pitching affluent parents with the claim that SAT scores no longer matter for UCLA and Berkeley admissions. The blogger mocks the come-on of a free intro followed by a fee.

Out – From Inside Higher Ed: Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell resigned after a faculty committee found he used AI to meaningfully alter his writing. No added comment.

October 30, 2026

The $90 Zero – Shows a mailing the blogger received from Navitus, the UC retiree pharmacy benefit manager, apparently involving a $90 vs. $0 cost figure. His only comment: "What a difference a zero can make!" NOTE: Claude seems to have missed the point - possibly because it couldn't read the image of the mailing. The mailing from Navitus showed a correction changing the co-pay from $10 to $100; the added zero imposed a $90 cost.

Straws in the Wind - Part 510 (Les Jeux Sont Fait) – From Inside Higher Ed: prediction market Kalshi plans to let users bet on admission rates at 22 selective schools, including UCLA and UC Berkeley, with admissions staff barred from trading. No added comment.

The Plan – Citing LA Metro, describes the proposed Sepulveda Transit Corridor rail line and lists scoping meetings, with public comments due November 18. The blogger wryly frames it as something that will happen "someday."

October 31, 2026

No Sharing – From the Daily Bruin: UCLA has a new review process restricting research-data sharing with "countries of concern" under DOJ and NIH rules. No added comment.

Straws in the Wind - Part 511 – From the Cornell Daily Sun: FIRE urged President Kotlikoff to lift Cornell's ban on Interfraternity Council social events, calling it guilt by association that violates freedom of association. No added comment.

Our Annual Halloween Offering – The blogger's yearly Halloween pick: a roughly half-hour, slowly building horror video, with a joking request that medically minded readers not point out the brain has no internal pain receptors.

AI Purchase Train Bypasses Academic Senate – Reposts an October 30 letter from Academic Council Chair Susannah Scott to President Milliken and COO Nava objecting to minimal Senate consultation on a proposed systemwide OpenAI purchase and asking that it not be finalized yet. No added comment beyond the letter and source link.

Total posts for the week: 30