Free Speech at UC

Apparently, some faculty at UC-Berkeley got the idea that they were prohibited by a UC policy from commenting about a ballot proposition in the City of Berkeley (involving a soda tax).

UCOP circulates by email articles on topics of interest to UC.  It circulated a link to an article about the soda tax issue:  [excerpt]

No, the U of California does NOT forbid faculty to express opinions about the soda tax

Last Friday, I received a phone call from Todd Kerr, the publisher of The Berkeley Times, a community newspaper in Berkeley, CA.  He was preparing a story on the Berkeley soda tax and could not find University of California (UC) faculty who were willing to speak with him. They were, they told him, under a gag order from the president’s office not to talk to reporters about the soda tax...   

...(T)he idea of a gag order seems contrary to current practice.

• Michael Pollan, a Berkeley journalism professor, says he publicly endorses the tax, and so have other professors.
• Chancellor’s Professor Robert Reich wrote a column endorsing it, and UC Berkeley posted his comments on its website.
• UCSF has featured research on the health implications of a soda tax on its website.
• The 50th anniversary celebration of Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement (FSM) starts this week.

But the rumor is serious and deserves investigation.

I sent out queries to try to find out if the rumor could have any basis in fact.

Steve Montiel, Media Relations Director... said:

All University of California employees, including faculty, have the right to express their personal opinions about any matter of civic importance, including ballot measures. Consistent with state law, however, longstanding University policy prohibits university resources from being used to oppose or support a ballot measure. Only the UC Board of Regents can take a public position on a ballot measure, and it has done so in the past...

Full article at http://www.foodpolitics.com/2014/09/no-the-u-of-california-does-not-forbid-faculty-to-express-opinions-about-the-soda-tax/

Listen to the Regents Meeting of Sept. 18

As promised in last evening's post, we provide a link below to the audio of the Regents meeting of Sept. 18. 

Summary: The public comment period featured calls for fossil fuel divestment (mainly by student speakers), opposition to Prop 46 on the November ballot (drug testing of docs; raising cap on med malpractice awards), and a student promoting CalPIRG.

The Committee on Compensation dealt with the appointment of a new chancellor at Irvine, a policy that would index chancellors' pay to an outside reference group (with specifics to be worked out in the next 6 months), a proposal (which we dealt with in last evening's post) to delegate authority over big buck athletic coach pay to chancellors and the UC prez (tabled after reservations expressed by the Lt. Governor and some regents), and other big buck salary hikes.  The Committee on Health Services dealt with problems in student health programs, Ebola concerns regarding UC students and others in Africa, a clinical strategic plan for UC-San Francisco, effects of Prop 46, and concerns about student mental health funding under Prop 63 coming to an end. 

The Committee on Grounds and Buildings presented a capital improvements budget and an addition to the Berkeley business school.  Then the Committee on Oversight of the Dept. of Energy Labs session featured a lengthy presentation on global warming and the evidence that the cause of the warming is not solar fluctuation but rather man-made linked to fossil fuel emissions.  Dates were set for the 2016 calendar of Regents' meetings.  Finally, the UC prez delivered a short statement including reference to faculty awards.

Listen at the link below:

Lieutenant Guv Gavin Newsom Opposes Plan for Regents to Delegate Authority Over Coach Pay to Chancellors and UC Prez

We'll post the full audio of the Regents meeting of Sept. 18, 2014 tomorrow.  However, in the interim you may be interested in the remarks of Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom on a plan - ultimately tabled after he objected - to delegate oversight of athletic coach salaries to the campus chancellors and the UC president.  Newsom noted that academic achievement of student-athletes seems not to be a part of such salary negotiations.

You can hear his remarks below:

UCLA History: Engineering Dean

Boelter was dean from 1944 to 1965.  Full info available at http://www.seas.ucla.edu/hsseas/history/boelter.html

Travel Screw Up

 If you didn't get the email...

Dear Colleagues,
This email is being sent to you from the Express list-serve.  If you are not a traveler, please make sure this communication gets sent out to anyone that may be traveling in your organization as soon as possible.
The UC Travel Center recently changed its travel reservation system.  During the process of migrating from the old system to the new system there was a major malfunction in which the vendor’s quality control program which operates within the reservation system cancelled some of the University’s existing  airline reservations.  Needless to say, this is a major issue and our vendor is attempting to re-book the cancelled reservations.
Here is what we know so far:
* Some existing domestic airline reservations made through UC Travel via a telephone reservation with an agent or through the online booking tool have been cancelled and we are not able to rebook the exact itinerary.  Hotel and car reservations were not affected.
* Reservations involving Southwest and Air-Tran airlines are not affected and have not been cancelled.
* International travel reservations have not been cancelled.
Here is what we need you to do:
* If you have an existing reservation that you made with UC Travel you should check with the airline to see if your reservation has been reinstated.
* As you can imagine, all of the UC Travel Department’s resources are being devoted to resolving this issue.  The Travel Department is being overwhelmed with inquiries on this matter so we ask that you please try to avoid calling us via telephone.   So if you have any issues with upcoming travel please direct them to our email address: travel@finance.ucla.edu .
* If you are traveling on UC business within the next three days, please know that we are working on completing your travel arrangements first.   Our vendor has rebooked many of these tickets already and is working to reissue as many of the remaining tickets as possible as quickly as possible.

It's lonely on the road (especially if your tickets are cancelled):

Green investing

As we have noted in prior posts, the Regents at their last meeting did not agree to divest fossil fuels but did agree to some kind of vague green investing plan (including an earmarked $1 billion).

A media release has appeared from UCOP:

The University of California today (Sept. 22) announced that it has become a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, the first American public university to join the leading international network of institutional investors committed to including environmental, social and governance factors in their investment decision making. By adding its name to the other 1,270 signatories who have agreed to put into practice six principles for responsible investing, UC has formally endorsed an investment framework that aligns with President Janet Napolitano’s systemwide sustainability initiative. The signatories of the PRI, as the network is known, collectively have some $45 trillion in assets under management...

The six key principles are:

• We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
• We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
• We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
• We will promote acceptance and implementation of the principles within the investment industry.
• We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the principles.
• We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the principles.

Full release at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment

Help Wanted

From KQED:

Students throughout the University of California system are having trouble accessing mental health care, and health services directors are raising alarms that increased staffing and funding could be warranted to meet demand.  “The increased need for mental health services on our campuses is outstripping our ability to provide those services,” said Dr. John Stobo, senior vice president for health sciences and services for the University of California. “It is a major problem. It’s not only a problem for UC, this is a national issue.” In the last six years, the number of students seeking help at university counseling centers has increased 37 percent, according to data presented at UC Regents board meeting on Thursday...

Elizabeth Gong-Guy, executive director of Counseling and Psychological Services at UCLA... says more students are seeking help now because of awareness campaigns that helped reduced stigma around mental health issues. Those campaigns were funded through a $6.8 million grant the university received under Proposition 63, a voter-approved ballot measure that raised taxes on the wealthiest Californians to provide funds for the state’s public mental health system.  But that funding to the university ends this year, and health services directors worry they do not have enough money to hire the staff needed to keep up with unabated demand. Gong-Guy said the UCLA counseling center treated 8,500 students last year – that amounts to 21 percent of the student population and a 23 percent increase over the year before...

Full story at http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2014/09/19/students-struggle-to-access-mental-health-services-on-uc-campuses/