Money Race

To recap prior posts: There are 3 tax initiatives on the ballot.  The governor’s tax initiative has been endorsed by the Regents.  Then there is the Molly Munger school tax and a close-corporate-loophole tax.  Politico wisdom is that having multiple initiatives on the same general subject is confusing and may lead to defeat of all.  The Munger and loophole initiatives have not polled well.  The governor’s initiative is polling marginally ahead but could easily be defeated which would produce trigger cuts midyear including to UC. News reports are that various unions have been contributing to the governor’s tax campaign although some of their funds are being diverted to campaigning against Prop 32, the anti-union “paycheck protection” initiative which is before voters for the third time.  Munger is dumping money into her campaign.

You can find stories on all of this today at:

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/08/molly-munger-drops-5-million-more-into-california-proposition-38-tax-campaign.html and

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/08/nurses-union-jerry-brown-tax-initiative-prop-30.html

We earlier reported on a radio ad in opposition to tax increases:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-tax-battle-begins.html
However, it is unclear how much the anti-tax campaign will be able to raise as we get closer to November.

A little appropriate racing music:

How Did We Let Him Get Away?

Less than two years after leaving office, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pumping up his political and academic profile — and will head the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California, a new think tank to advance “post-partisan” politics. The Republican former governor told the San Francisco Chronicle that he’ll formally announce the establishment of the partnership Thursday at USC, where his Institute will be housed in the Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Schwarzenegger will chair the Institute’s Board of Advisors, and he has also been appointed the inaugural Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC, a post in honor of  the first immigrant California governor — who was also a co-founder of the university...

Full story at http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/08/02/professor-schwarzenegger-arnolds-bold-move-heading-new-usc-think-tank-for-post-partisan-politics-video/

He evidently got away from us:

Yet More Pepper

Just when you thought there could not be more to contemplate about the UC-Davis pepper spray incident, there is this from the Sacramento Bee: The internal affairs investigation into last November's pepper-spraying controversy at UC-Davis concluded that Lt. John Pike acted reasonably, with a subsequent review concluding he should have faced demotion or a suspension at worst, according to documents obtained by The Bee. Despite those recommendations, Pike was fired Tuesday after UC Davis Police Chief Matthew Carmichael rejected the findings and wrote in a letter to Pike that "the needs of the department do not justify your continued employment," according to the documents...

Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/02/4684333/uc-davis-chief-overruled-panel.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/02/4684333/uc-davis-chief-overruled-panel.html#storylink=cpy

Back Home in Indiana (Where the Campus Hotel Pays Taxes)

We have noted in past blog posts on the UCLA proposed hotel/conference center that the business plan assumes that the hotel is tax exempt (because it is - and has to be - non-commercial).  One of the anecdotes cited at the July Regents meeting session that approved the hotel financing plan was a campus hotel at Indiana Uuiversity.  (Listen to the link below.)  Above is a screenshot of the webpage for that hotel.  If you go on that webpage and book a room, you will find that the room cost includes TAX.

This is the problem.  Many of the uses cited at the Regents session and in the business plan for the UCLA hotel seem to cross the line into the taxable sphere, both LA City and IRS.  That includes parental visits with prospective students - the Indiana anecdote.  Local hotel owners don't want tax-free competition and can simply notify the tax authorities - a costless activity - if they think transgressions are occurring.  (Hotel owners sent a lawyer to the Regents meeting to warn them about the tax issue.)  UCLA won't have the option at that point of just collecting taxes since its financing mechanism precludes commercial uses.  And then, how will the rooms get filled?  And if they are not sufficiently filled, where will the missing revenue come from?

Back home in Indiana, the hotel there pays taxes and takes commercial business (and is not precluded from doing so by its financing).   Below is the relevant part of the Regents meeting with appropriate musical accompaniment: 

"I can tell you from my own personal experience having taken my daughter around the country, there was one experience that stood out clearly, remarkably vividly, which was going to Indiana University, which has a facility like this in the heart of campus, directly adjacent to the student union.  That was an enormous convenience, to be able to stay on campus and be able to able to attend the events associated with the visit to Indiana University. So that is the type of thing we consider to be an affiliated visit."

More Email Fraud: Don't Answer

More email fraud/spam you should not answer that may have appeared in your e-mailbox.  If you did reply, you might have noticed that the reply address is not at UCLA.  Change your password immediately if you did reply:

This Email is from UCLA Communications. We have been monitoring this account through our server's log file and have noticed that this account is been accessed from different distinct location simultaneously as against webmail policy, for security purpose we will be shutting down this Account unless you verify this account by filling out the outlined Information below or your account will be suspended within 48 hours.

UCLA Logon ID:..........

Password:..........

City/State:.........

Date Of Birth.......

Failure to update this account after three days of receiving this warning will be tantamount to losing this account permanently.

We apologize sincerely,

UCLA Communications Technology Services

---

I wonder why they forgot to ask for your credit card number.  Anyway, no matter how much they plead, don't answer:

Advice from the Beatles on the Japanese Garden

In earlier posts, we have noted advice from Fredric March and Winston Churchill to UCLA on the sale of the Japanese Garden – now halted by court order.  The local newspaper for the Japanese-American community in LA, Rafu Shimpo, has a lengthy article today on the sale and the court decision which also suggests the sensitivity of this matter to the Japanese-American community.  Example:

…One garden supporter commented that choosing Aug. 15 — V-J (Victory over Japan) Day — as the day to open the bids “tells us how they are culturally senseless as a world-class educational institution.”…

Full article at http://rafu.com/news/2012/08/judge-grants-injunction-on-uclas-sale-of-japanese-garden/

In the past, UCLA has shown more sensitivity, notably in its retroactive award of degrees to students of Japanese origin who were interned during World War II and could not complete their studies. See

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/05/ucla-history-awarding-degrees-to.html

So rather than go through needless and expensive litigation, the university would be well advised to seek a compromise with the plaintiffs in this case that allows for preservation of the garden, whether in the hands of UCLA or some other entity.

As the Beatles would advise:

Our earlier posts with advice on this issue from Fredric and Winston are at

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/07/march-on-japanese-garden.html

and

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/07/we-repeat-our-earlier-observation-jaw.html

What Management Thinks

Inside Higher Ed has provided an interesting survey on how management at universities (national survey) thinks about financial circumstances.  The chart above gives some indication of what you can find out.  It indicates that both financial officers and provosts are skeptical about faculty understanding of financial issues.  CFOs are more likely than provosts (academics) to think more spending cuts can be made without an impact on quality although only a minority of CFOs feel that way.

You can find a lengthy article on the survey with a link to the actual document at
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/business_officer_2012

Since there is skepticism about faculty understanding of money issues, we provide this helpful lesson below: