Dial H for Hotel? Part 3 - Questions from the Script

An earlier posting noted that the caller for the poll on the hotel/conference center, ostensibly being conducted on behalf of UCLA, refused to talk to a female neighborhood resident because there were too many women in the sample. Apparently, women are now being allowed to answer.

Another recipient of a call (a woman) took notes on the questions and reported that it included the questions in italics below. She reported that the pollster was reading from a script and seemed to know nothing about the hotel/conference center other than what was on the script.

In the script, the hotel/conference center is referred to in the university’s terminology as a residential conference center (RCC). From her notes on the call and the questions posed:

1. UCLA has proposed a 6-story residential conference center…etc. [description] Do you think this will happen? a) strongly doubt, b) doubt, c) don’t know, d) don’t doubt

2. The traffic at the corner of Sunset and Hilgard is bad enough already and an RCC will make it worse. a) strongly doubt, b) doubt, c) don’t know, d) don’t doubt

3. The Faculty Center is a historic building. Are you in favor of preserving the Faculty Center as part of a Residential Conference Center? a) yes, b) no

4. The RCC will charge $xxx per night, and academics cannot afford this. a) strongly doubt, b) doubt, c) don’t know, d) don’t doubt

5. Is it beneficial for UCLA to have a conference center where conferees, faculty, and students can interact? a) strongly doubt, b) doubt, c) don’t know, d) don’t doubt

6. Is it important for you to have cultural and intellectual activity nearby? a) strongly doubt, b) doubt, c) don’t know, d) don’t doubt

7. Will Westwood Village get better? [no mention of hotel] a) yes, b) no

8. Will the neighborhood get better? [no mention of hotel] a) yes, b) no

9. Are you optimistic about L.A.? a) yes, b) no

10. Should the (or a) RCC host private events? [“the” could have been “a”]

11. Are there enough hotels in the area to handle conferences?

12. What is your age? (ranges given).

If other blog readers receive calls and can find more info about the origin of the poll or more questions from the script, please do so. I don’t want to be accused of back-stabbing or strangling the university’s quest for knowledge - but be careful when you answer! You never know what could happen:

UCLA History: More on the 405 Closure and on UCLA Parking

The 1960 freeway planning map shown below on the left depicts the section of the 405 currently closed and just north of UCLA as still under construction then. (If you click on the map, you will see a clearer image.)

The two men shown in the other picture - taken in 1964 on campus - are screenwriter David Rayfiel (l) and director Sidney Pollack (r). The photo appeared in connection with the former's obituary last month. However, of interest is the background showing a substantial open parking area behind Royce Hall. I believe there was by then a modest charge for parking, unlike the situation when the campus first opened and parking was free shown in yesterday's posting.

UCLA History: 405 Closure Perspectives

For those who feel deprived of easy passage to UCLA this weekend due to the closure of the 405 in the Sepulveda Pass area, here is some historical background.

On the new Westwood campus, if you got there by car in 1929, parking was free and easy. There was no freeway on the Sepulveda Pass. But the road there, as shown in the 1930 photo was not very crowded.

There were some public transit alternatives as this 1937 video suggests:

By the way, the cheerful mayor of LA (Frank Shaw), who appears on the video, was recalled by voters the following year - the only big-city mayor ever recalled in the U.S. - for running a totally corrupt regime.

Will There Be an Overflow from the CSU Executive Pay Issue to UC?

The Sacramento Bee features a story today about legislative moves to cap executive pay at CSU. As noted in a prior blog posting, the CSU board raised pay of an incoming campus president by $100,000 while approving a tuition increase. UC is mentioned in the excerpt below. In principle, the Regents have constitutional autonomy although the legislature sometimes ignores it or writes bills that impose something on CSU and urges UC to follow.

From kitchen tables to Capitol offices, two decisions California State University trustees made earlier this week have left Californians seething.

…And now lawmakers are tapping into the outrage. At least three state legislators are working on bills that would curb executive pay at CSU. Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, has drafted Senate Bill x1-25, which would prevent CSU from giving administrators raises above 10 percent in any year the university increases tuition for students. It would include sitting executives and new hires.

…Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, who wrote a letter to CSU trustees this week asking them to rescind the $100,000 increase, said he plans to introduce his own bills on the matter next month. One would say CSU can't increase administrator salary when there is a tuition increase or for two years following. Another would place a cap on how much CSU can pay its executives, tying it to "some rational compensation level," Lieu said.

…Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, wants to reintroduce a bill he wrote last year that would prevent CSU from giving executives raises in any year state funding decreases, said his spokesman Adam Keigwin.

…Gov. Jerry Brown doesn't typically comment on legislation until he acts on it. But a letter he wrote to CSU trustees this week may be giving legislators some hope for their bills. On Tuesday morning, the day of their vote, Brown asked trustees to reconsider plans to pay Elliot Hirshman, the new San Diego State president, a $400,000 salary.

…Hirshman's salary makes him the highest-paid campus president in the CSU system and tops his salary at his last job as provost of University of Maryland, Baltimore County by $133,000.

…University of California regents also met this week. They too raised tuition on the same day they gave some executive raises. The UC Student Association issued a statement criticizing the $27,500 raise for Vice President Patrick Lenz. But generally the UC decisions have not sparked the outcry that has ricocheted about CSU. That may be because two of the executives who got raises this week are paid by UC's hospital system. And Lenz, who is paid by state funds, got a raise of 10 percent…

Full story at http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/16/3773608/lawmakers-move-to-cap-csu-executive.html

There can be an overflow of such issues from CSU to UC, leaving a mess:

Dial H for Hotel? Part 2

An earlier post indicated that someone is calling Westwood-area residents, ostensibly on behalf of UCLA, as a kind of push-poll favoring the hotel/conference center.

A resident who got such a call today was told she was not eligible to answer because there were too many women in the study. When her husband was not available to respond, the caller declined to continue and terminated the call.

And we thought that issue was settled some time ago!

CalPERS Issues Report on Vested Rights of California Pension Recipients and Covered Current mployees

Although the CalPERS report refers to its participants, most of the legal discussion is generally applicable to any public pension plan in California. Basically, the report indicates that both earned benefits AND benefit formulas cannot be altered, except in extraordinary circumstances, in ways that disadvantage covered employee.

The report is available below from Issu and/or Scribd:

Open publication - Free publishing - More calpers

Vested Rights of CalPERS Members

Bottom Line: No, they can’t take that away…

The Usual

It’s now routine. The legislature cuts the UC budget and the Regents raise tuition. From Capitol Alert, 7/14/11:

University of California regents today voted to raise tuition by about $1,070, sending the total cost to $12,192 for the upcoming school year. After a recently approved $650 million cut in state funding, UC regents said they had no choice but to raise tuition to close about a quarter of the system's $1 billion budget deficit. When combined with a previous hike, tuition will be 18 percent more -- about $1,890 -- in fall 2011 than it was in fall 2010. Each campus also charges undergraduates about $1,000 in additional fees…

Four regents voted against the tuition increase: Eddie Island, Alfredo Mireles, George Marcus and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. "The biggest threat to our democracy is income inequality, the loss of the middle class," Newsom said. "And here we are once again, putting the nail in the coffin of the middle class. That's exactly who gets hurt in this debate." …

Regents also discussed other long-term solutions to the budget crunch, including charging international students higher rates, increasing online class offerings, being more aggressive about seeking private donations and consolidating some operations at each campus into one statewide office…

Full article: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/07/uc-tutition-hiked-to-12200-to.html

Well, if we can’t have the middle class, there is always:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: