No Bond?

From the Bruin: A UC-sponsored California bill that would place a $12 billion research bond on the ballot will not appear in the November election, unless lawmakers reach an agreement. Senate Bill 895, which Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener proposed in January, would have created the California Foundation for Science and Health Research. The foundation would have distributed the $12 billion – accumulated through the sale of state bonds – to scientific research projects across the state. 

The bill made it through several legislative hurdles – passing a senate committee and then the chamber in May – but failed to make it to the State Assembly floor by the June 25 deadline for measures to qualify for the ballot. The bill had to pass in the Assembly and be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom by June 25 to qualify through the standard legislative timeline. However, it could still qualify if the state grants an extension...

UC President James Milliken said in a Thursday statement that he will continue to advocate for research support from the state. “Placing a bond on the ballot is always an ambitious undertaking — particularly so in California’s current fiscal environment,” he said in the statement...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/07/03/12-billion-uc-sponsored-research-bond-misses-deadline-to-appear-on-ballot.

Ignore - Report - Delete

Click on image to clarify
===

Just a reminder that unsolicited offers to create a (presumably flattering) Wikipedia page for you should be ignored. You can report them to Wikipedia by forwarding them to:

paid-en-wp@wikipedia.org

If you do so, you will receive an email from Wikipedia saying:

Thank you for reporting this. There are many paid editing companies out there that look through recently-declined drafts or who contact people with public careers and contact information (like academics and professors) to send this kind of solicitation. Very few of them comply with Wikipedia's paid-editing policies, most are outright scams, and none are endorsed by Wikipedia, no matter what they may say. Feel free to ignore future emails like this, and we recommend marking them as spam.

Sincerely,

331dot

The conflict of interest volunteer response team

250

 

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNaOAm5E-6w or https://ia902809.us.archive.org/1/items/newsom-7-1-2026-savings-accounts-for-kids/250%20Years%20of%20American%20History%20in%209%20Minutes.mp4.

Donor Database

The American Enterprise Institute has created a database called "Source" of foundations that donated to universities based on reports they filed with the IRS. There are all kinds of caveats attached to the database. For example, the reports were voluntary for a time and later became required.

The image accompanying this post shows the top donors to UCLA during 2009-2024, defined as those who provided at least 1% of total database-listed donations to UCLA during that period.

It is possible to use the Source database to isolate shorter periods and purposes of the grants.

You can find the database at:

https://cfau.aei.org/source/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 392

From Inside Higher Ed: The Kansas Board of Regents... formally defined the terms “DEI” and “CRT,” paving the way for state-mandated curriculum changes that will eliminate gender-, race- and ethnicity-focused courses from general education requirements at public universities. Free speech advocates called the definitions “vague and confusing” and say they leave faculty and students “on shaky ground.” Public university faculty have mixed feelings on the definitions. Some said they could have been worse, and others said they pave the way for serious infringements on academic freedom.

In compliance with House Bill 2513—which passed the Legislature in March and which Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly grudgingly signed—the board of regents defined “DEI-CRT” as “diversity, equity, inclusion and critical race theory” and stated that a DEI-CRT course is one whose “title, course description or learning outcomes include DEI-CRT-related content.” That content is defined as anything which “intentionally establishes and promotes the preferential treatment of groups based on race, color, gender, ethnicity or national origin,” according to board documents. CRT content also includes anything that “presents racism as systemic within laws, policies, or institutions and promotes acceptance of that viewpoint rather than presenting it as a subject of scholarly, historical, or legal study.” Discussion of race, racism or the history of the civil rights movement is not considered DEI-CRT–related content under the policy...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/academic-freedom/2026/06/24/some-kansas-faculty-uneasy-over-vague-dei-definitions.

Members Needed

Below is a message from the outgoing University Club (formerly Faculty Club) president Steve Cederbaum:

Dear Members of the Club and Members of the UCLA Family,

 

This is my last letter as I finish my term as Chair of the Board of Directors of the UCLA University Club. I will miss the responsibility for the success of the Club, but I will have the chance to continue to participate in its growth. I have been appointed to the ex officio seat on the board as the representative of the UCLA Emeriti Association. I leave with no qualms as I turn over the Chair to Kyle McJunkin, from the School of Public Health. Kyle is an visionary leader, full of energy and ideas, some of which I will share with you in a moment.

 

As I have written previously, each of us can share in the success of having stabilized the Club and assuring its continuation into the future. We will finish the year with little or no operating deficit, and we are free from the risk of closure in these fraught financial times. This success has come at a price. That price has been the curtailment of some money losing perks that we previously enjoyed. We have had to forego hot luncheon service this summer (to be discussed in a separate communication), we have no a la carte service on the patio in the Coral Grill, and no dinner service. We are taking steps to restore and enhance our member benefits, and Kyle will share this information with you soon.

 

I want to use the remainder of this communication to share with you the steps required to restore the Club to the full-service organization that we want. The short answer is money, the longer one requires a discussion of how we get there.

 

WE NEED MORE MEMBERS! Membership dues provide a base of support that is independent of usage. If we want a Club to be there when we want it, whether it is a university club, a social club, or a club associated with a religious institution, we have to assume some responsibility for its existence. This responsibility cannot be measured solely by the return that we get from our investment. Our membership numbers suffered greatly from the forced closure due to Covid and the desperately needed extensive renovations that took the following year. We are now at 60% of our pre-Covid membership levels. For those members who never returned when we reopened, we need you back. For those who are using the club with a departmental card, we need the larger contribution of full membership. Membership dues support some of the Club activities that have been curtailed. We need more members to provide more services.

 

Second, we need more events. It is these events that provide the economic health and cushion of the enterprise. Most of these events will come from the outside, but each of you can help by reminding your departments and your family and friends of the special meaning and atmosphere of the UCLA University Club. It is and should be more than an economic decision.

 

Finally, we need to continue to seek major philanthropic support for further capital improvements to the facility. The University stepped in with $10 million for major structural improvements, but we are responsible for improvements to the interior. We have spent, or will soon spend about $2 million on major improvements to the kitchen, the servery, the bathrooms, and others thanks to the generosity of the Morrisons, the Miller/McMahons, and the Steeles. We need still more upgrades, like the carpet in the main dining room and we need to meet emergencies which will continue to arise in our 60-year-old facility.

 

I want to appeal especially to the generosity of my generation, recruited to UCLA in the 60s, 70s and 80s of the last century, who often through little effort of our own, may have accumulated resources sufficient to consider major philanthropic gifts. If you are in that position, consider the UCLA University Club as a beneficiary. Your gift can have an immediate, visible impact on something very close to home and your heart. If you are interested you can contact me (scederbaum@mednet.ucla.edu), or the incoming chair, Kyle McJunkin (kmcjunkin@ph.ucla.edu).

 

I thank you again for having given me the privilege of having served as the Chair of the Club board for this past year.

 

Steve Cederbaum

Chair, Board of Directors

UCLA University Club

===

It might be noted that back in the day, this blog helped save the Faculty Club from total demolition by rallying support. (The original plan was to build a version of what is now the Luskin Hotel and Conference Center on the site of the Club. You can get a sense of what went on by typing "Faculty Club" into the search option for this blog and going back to 2010 and 2011.)

Interview

UC President James Milliken was interviewed by Michelle Deutchman, director of the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. Topics included Clark Kerr and the Master Plan for Higher Education, campus protests, academic freedom, recent reports on problems in higher education, and the conflict with the Trump administration.

You can hear the interview at:

https://archive.org/download/newsom-may-june-2026/UC%20Pres%20Milliken%20interviewed%20by%20Michelle%20Deutchman%206-30-2026.mp4.